■fl HKBhBBOSQS 

MBBBQHWBMB HOMMBBfl 

BMKtMrlliiiiflflflfiMiBTffHflfWirP^ff/jjA^.Aj JtllT .0- 
TljT afij»**r jMrpL'BIL DDDBBBB 




m 

HHttttx 

B 



1 



82 BmuBk 

H 

IB 




8ttS 




Class 



Book 2>t 

GqpyrightW 



tfO 



COPYRIGHT DEBOSfli 



( 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 



Works of 

Albert Durrant Watson 

The Sovereignty of Ideals 
The Sovereignty of Character 
The Wing of the Wildbird 
Love and the Universe 
Heart of the Hills 
Comrades of Jesus 



THE 
TWENTIETH PLANE 

A Psychic Revelation 



Reported by 
ALBERT DURRANT WATSON, M.D. 

Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society of 

Canada and President of the Association 

for Psychical Research of Canada 




PHILADELPHIA 

GEORGE W. JACOBS & COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 






Copyright, 1919, by 
GEORGE W. JACOBS & COMPANY 



All rights reserved 
Printed in U. S. A. 

©CI.A5L5534 



MAY 13 1318 









Received Dec. 15, 1918. 

This revelation was given to your world by people who, when 
on earth plane, lived lives exactly like your own. It is the fruit 
of a sincere and sacred effort made by a group of living souls 
on the Twentieth Astral Plane, to bring light and comfort to 
those especially who have asked the question : " What ensues 
after death?" 

In the chapters of this work will be found messages from 
Jesus, Socrates, and many great souls known to the history of 
earth plane. 

The sincere reader will grant one simple request: Do not 
prejudge the book, but read it in entirety. Think of it as an 
entity. You may not believe all; you may not realize it now, 
yet some truths will energize and guidingly inspire you. 

Whether you partake of this food or not, it still is food. 

Though you do not know us, some day you will, and the truth 

will prevail. 

Abraham Lincoln. 

S. T. Coleridge. 



DEDICATION 

This work is dedicated to the heroes of the war — 
those of the battle-field and those also of the fire- 
side — to all who gave nobly to the cause of truth. It 
is sent from the Twentieth Plane to be a light and a 
consolation to those left behind. In the name of man- 
hood, womanhood, love and faith, we dedicate anew 
this truth of all time, There is no death. The portal 
is but to a higher plane, where loving ones wait to 
greet those who come, from strivings, home. This is 
laid reverently on the leaf to show the purpose in the 
book. 

Samuel Taylor Coleridge. 



CONTENTS 

Preface 9 

Intention 27 

Life on the Twentieth Plane 37 

Conversation 55 

A Nook for Mother 75 

Characteristics of Personages 87 

Literature (Prose) 105 

Literature (Poetry) 1 29 

Art (Painting, Music, Sculpture, Drama) . . .151 

Eloquence 177 

Statesmanship . 199 

Life Principles . 213 

The Quest of Reality . • 239 

An Hour with the Great Thinkers . . . .255 

Realization of God 277 

Comments • • . . 298 

Index .....,,.,. 309 



PREFACE 

We are constantly hypnotized by theories. Speak 
persistently of any hypothesis, and it will soon be 
established in the thought of the people. They will 
regard it as knowledge, though it may prove to be 
unsound even as a theory. We are far too final in 
our thought. While living in harmony with our con- 
victions, we should keep an open mind, lend an ear 
to the latest facts, and change our theory when it no 
longer compels our respect. 

The contents of this volume as quoted were re- 
ceived under the conditions set forth in the Intention. 
We do not, in a final sense, know anything about their 
source. Yet there is ample evidence of their arresting 
and absorbing appeal. They are not the product of 
our immediate effort. No labour of authorship on 
our part was involved. We did not seek these mes- 
sages. They were evidently sent from somewhere. 
The experience was thrust into our lives, and, by its 
special interest, arrested our attention. 

Nevertheless, any adequate consideration of the 
contents of this volume involves likewise the question 
as to their source. Since the quoted matters were 
spoken by Mr. Louis Benjamin, known throughout 
this volume as the Instrument, the suggestion would 

9 



PREFACE 

naturally arise that he is the real author of the book. 
If this is not feasible, the natural tendency would be 
to think of myself as a possible source, through some 
process of hypnotism or telepathy, of the communica- 
tions. Failing this, there are the minds of the whole 
circle, the subconscious mind in general, the Universal 
Consciousness, the spirits of the so-called " dead," — 
good or evil impersonators, — or, finally, the per- 
sonalities who, in the actual communications, are 
claimed to have spoken. There are other theories, 
some of them being modifications of these, but they 
do not widely prevail. 

As to the first question: did the Instrument produce 
these pages ? I have not found one person who knows 
him well and has read this volume who regards him 
as the author. He, himself, is sure he is not its source 
in any creative sense. I am as sure of it as he. His 
limited range of thought and reading, his innocence of 
academic training, preclude the adoption of this 
theory. He has read much. He is intelligent and, 
in a very popular sense, he is educated. But he is 
incapable of producing such a book. The question 
of style alone which we shall consider in these pages 
would negative such a theory. 

Professor Abbott has, throughout his association 
with this experience, maintained a strictly scientific 
attitude. His interest has been manifested purely 
in relation to psychology. Once when I was con- 
versing with one of the intelligences in question, he 

10 



PREFACE 

expressed regret that Professor Abbott was not 
present. It was clear that he regarded me as an in- 
adequate foil in his converse on such high themes as 
those in which we were engaged. We were often 
told that communications failed of their full signifi- 
cance because our Instrument had insufficient keys. 
The key-board of a musical instrument was frequently 
used as a symbol to illustrate the part the Instru- 
ment was playing in the transmission of the communi- 
cations. It is for this reason chiefly that this word is 
preferred before the more common term " medium." 

Did the communications come out of the minds of 
myself and the circle? In no case had we been read- 
ing about the matters that came over. We had sel- 
dom or never been thinking of them. They had al- 
ways, to some extent, the freshness of new themes, 
and very often came with surprise to us all. We feel 
convinced that none of us had any direct creative 
relation to the messages quoted in this volume. Of 
course, it is open to any one to say that we must have 
known at some previovis time all that was communi- 
cated. This is simply begging the question and 
wrenching the facts to make them fit a theory. 

That some facts and ideas were derived from our 
stores of information was frankly stated by the in- 
telligences themselves. This element, however, was 
a definite quantity and did not occur except when it 
was noted and honestly admitted. We were aware 
of the facts of mind-transference. We knew how 

ii 



PREFACE 

thoughts will unconsciously assume orderly relation 
and appear in finished prose or poetry at the threshold 
of our consciousness. But it is to be remembered that 
the explanations of this experience are altogether 
hypothetical. It is an experience of quite a different 
order. The private views of some of us underwent 
some modification because of the light thrown on them 
in these investigations. 

It has been said by more than one intelligent reader 
that they find no matters in the book that are not in 
harmony with my published views on similar themes. 
As I understand the present volume, however, it is 
not entirely in harmony with such views. It would 
change to some extent my thought on the inspiration 
of the Scriptures, making it more orthodox in the 
common acceptation of that word. The same is true 
in regard to what happens after death to the soul that 
has lived an unworthy life. Other instances might 
be cited. 

The fact which seems most fatal to the idea that I 
am the source of the communications is to be found in 
the diversity of style in the many messages reported. 
Let us take five instances for purposes of investiga- 
tion. Look first at the dedication, which comes from 
one who directs that his name shall be subscribed as 
"Samuel Taylor Coleridge." We need not quote it 
here. It closes with the words: 

" We dedicate anew this truth of all time : There is no death. 

12 



PREFACE 

The portal is but to a higher plane, where loving ones wait to 
greet those who come, from strivings home. This is laid 
reverently on the leaf to show the purpose in the book." 

This passage contains one distinctive style. Take 
a second from the vernacular which " Elbert Hub- 
bard " so commonly uses. It is reported in the con- 
versation of April 28th, in the chapter entitled Char- 
acteristics of Personages: 

" Say, my pal of pals, in the silence of this vale of voice, tell 
me to tell you that non compos mentis is the word to apply to 
one who, with a shrug of the shoulder, a wink of the eye, a snap 
of the jaw, settles the finalities of all worlds, the problems that 
are debatable on all planes." 

We shall quote a third style from the dialogue held 
with Voltaire on June 9th, as reported in the chapter 
entitled Literature — Prose. 

" Princes and princesses : I come to seek out what ye be. I 
may be scornful, but even if I be severe, words of fire quench 
to love in the purpose of my coming. 

" I had a sharp nose, and walked on earth with a stilted step. 
I hated shams, affectations and wrong in church and state. . . . 
I saw it all and my physical body grew hideous in the scorn I 
poured on this rank, stinking fabric of my earth-day society." 

Another quotation is found in the dialogue of Vic- 
tor Hugo reported in the same chapter; for June 9th: 

"Land of the tricolor, the lily and French valour; I often 
come again in sight of Paris and see France rise from the 

13 



PREFACE 

phoenix ashes of war to the strains of the Marseillaise, march- 
ing out of the mist of tears to light." 

One more instance from the prose of Meredith. It 
is found in the same chapter near its close. It was 
received on June 17th: 

"A path of barrenness. A lonely woman walking in that 
path. She feels that the world is cruel and without beauty. 
The moon rises full and clear. The woman, walking aimlessly 
into the garden, passes a rustic gate, her thoughts bowed down 
with grief. The air is still. Silence profound as death. The 
woman hears a strange whispering, etc." 

The reader will see that these five styles are quite 
distinctive. Yet the matter composing the content of 
these messages was given spontaneously and rapidly. 
Now I submit that none of us could have created these 
styles in an off-hand, ready way such as was in evi- 
dence when we received these communications. Each 
of us has one style such as it is. The Instrument is 
not a writer. None of these styles is mine, a fact that 
is evident to the reader already. But the book con- 
tains forty different styles. They are not all as dis- 
tinctive as these, but some of them are, and all are 
distinctive to some extent. Now, will the theory of 
the subconscious mind, and of any possible " deep sea 
fishing" therein, explr'i the creation of so many 
styles of literary expression as are to be found here? 
It would be a remarkable contention should any one 
claim that it could. 



PREFACE 

The same may be said if we transfer our argument 
to the field of the universal subconsciousness, another 
hypothetical creation of recent years. Let us sup- 
pose that in North Africa there lived a certain man 
in a certain period who taught a certain theory. None 
of our circle ever heard of him or of his theory. But 
his work was well known to specialists. Now a theory 
comes to us in these communications which is exactly 
that man's theory. The communicating intelligence 
claims that it is projected to us by that man himself. 
Where did the theory come from? 

Again certain personalities discuss certain questions 
and refuse to discuss any others. They are specialists. 
Even when two in the same general field talk on 
one topic, their methods are quite different, one being, 
for instance, Spinozistic, the other being Platonic. 
One is suggestive of one period, the other of another. 
Such considerations, which have to be explained, find 
their explanation as easily by assuming that the per- 
sons who say they are speaking are actually speaking, 
as by assuming the subconscious theory, or a theory 
of fraud on the part of the medium. 

Why it should be assumed that it is easier to believe 
the communicating intelligences are spirits other than 
those who say they are speaking might be difficult to 
say. Those who assume that Coleridge, Wordsworth, 
Lincoln, Shakespeare, Spinoza, Plato, or even the 
Master of Masters Himself, would have no interest 
in projecting thought to us, may possibly have over- 

15 



PREFACE 

looked the fact that meekness, humility, and a per- 
sonal interest in the welfare of others are considered 
in the Christian teaching to be the loftiest virtues. 

Again, why should John Smith, for instance, wish 
to communicate with us, not as John Smith, but as, 
let us say, Heraclitus, Savonarola, or Swedenborg? 
He must surely know how unlikely he is to be accepted 
as one of these, even when he projects the most noble 
sentiments. He must know further that it is almost 
impossible to impersonate a really great mind. This 
is true even though the immortals may not be expected 
to pour out their highest art when in converse with us. 

There are less distinguished persons who have 
spoken with us whose messages seem to carry fuller 
conviction to a certain type of mind. I give here a 
few cases of personal interest relating to matters 
which have otherwise been excluded from the book. 

One communicating intelligence (W. R. S.) re- 
minded me of a scene which he and I enacted alone 
about an hour before he died. It was a secret between 
us and I had never mentioned it to any one. Imagine 
how startling it Avas to me to hear the Instrument re- 
peating my words uttered years before, words known 
only to me and the person who was said to be com- 
municating. I had not thought of them for five years 
at least. Do you say it came out of my thought? 
Then consider another case. 

A correspondent in Yarmouth N. S. was told by 
" her mother," after that mother's death, to look in a 

16 



PREFACE 

certain place for an object of whose existence no one 
living was aware. She looked for it and found it. 

A friend whose name is respected throughout the 
Canadian Dominion as well as in the United States 
received a statement from a deceased friend in auto- 
matic writing to the effect that he would be apprised 
without delay of matters pertaining to important life- 
interests. He did not know in the least what was 
referred to, but before he slept the prophecy was 
fulfilled. 

I was told, through the Instrument in trance, by 
" Samuel T. Coleridge," of the exact nature of a cer- 
tain review of a recent volume three days before the 
review was published. In this case the Instrument 
and those who heard the statement had reason to ex- 
pect a totally different treatment of the work re- 
ferred to. 

Hubbard's forecast of the war, as given on Feb- 
ruary 17th, was a surprise to us all. His dates were 
not correct, but his facts as predicted were strangely 
like the events as they occurred. 

In August, " Kitchener " stated to us his reasons 
for believing the war would be over before Christmas. 
These were substantially as follows: 

" The enemies' man-power is diminishing. Ours is increas- 
ing rapidly. 

" Disunion has entered the counsels of the Central powers. 
Their alliance will soon break down. There is perfect unity 
among the powers on our part. 

17 



PREFACE 

" The social conditions in Germany are serious. The food 
shortage is by no means the worst of these." 

It will be remembered that in August the whole 
world was looking forward to a further year of 
conflict. 

I am speaking for myself when I say I believe there 
is a Universal Consciousness. I believe that through 
yearning aspiration amounting to prayer, in hours of 
highly sensitive religious or artistic experience, our 
souls receive inspiration, strength, vision, and direc- 
tion from such a source. That such a Universal Con- 
sciousness misrepresents itself, purporting to be this 
or that individual when such is not the case, I will not 
and cannot think. A subliminal, all-comprehending 
mind acting in this way or even as a reservoir into 
which our Instrument can dip with no barrier of time, 
location, or personality, seems to me to be altogether 
weird and unnatural. 

The Christian view of the hereafter which un- 
doubtedly controls most of our thought, especially 
our critical thought, is itself of the crudest and most 
speculative character. Most of us have thought that 
when one dies he becomes at once omniscient. Now, 
the teaching of this volume tends in many matters to 
a restoration of faith in those in whom, from any 
cause, it has suffered eclipse. Here are the great 
doctrines of a divine Christ, of the salvation of the 
world by Love-sacrifice, of rebirth through a vision 

18 



PREFACE 

of the Christ and faith in Him, of human respon- 
sibility for character and conduct, of the penitential 
valley on every plane of life, — all these and the 
supreme doctrine of all, " love of God, and oneness 
with the All-Father." 

From purely pedagogical reasons, it would be a 
mistake to regard any revelation as to the constitution 
of nature as being a practical working basis, much 
less as being a final goal of our thought. No matter 
how inspiring it may be, this is not the way we make 
our philosophy. Such revelations must not be fitted 
into our philosophical systems, much less must they 
be regarded as themselves constituting a new system. 

This is not to underestimate these communications. 
If certain personalities have been studying nature, 
and developing for centuries, it would be assumed 
that their present theories would have advanced out 
of relation to our current philosophy. In every 
mystical philosophy are the evidences of vision and 
dream. The unacceptability of a mystical revelation, 
in a philosophic sense, to any particular age, has little 
bearing upon the germ of truth that may possibly be 
in it. 

No light as to the source of the matters quoted in 
this volume can be derived from the questions asked. 
There are leading questions in it. This is unavoid- 
able in free and informal conversation. The dramatic 
element is everywhere manifest. The unknown guest 
was usually master of the situation. If a question 

19 



PREFACE 

leads to an answer far more comprehensive than the 
question, the argument as to leading questions in 
that case falls to the ground. Take an example. 
" Tennyson " is the guest on June 15. I ask him a 
leading question: 

Do we not make a mistake when we class the great Germans 
of genius such as Goethe, Schiller, Heine, Herder, Wagner, 
etc., with the military Germany of to-day? They were not 
Prussians, and there was no empire then. 

If Tennyson's answer had been a simple affirmative, 
it would have no value, but note the answer: 

" There is in the earth plane another plane or nation. This 
plane is one of great men, a country to which they come when 
they attain a certain vision. When great men come to this 
plane, they know no country, nationality or creed; they belong 
to the democracy of the universal." 

My position in relation to spirit communication is 
this: It is a fact, and has always been. It includes' 
necromancy, the communication with familiar spirits 
of low planes in ancient and modern times. It in- 
cludes also the glorious communion with exalted ones 
as revealed in the sacred Scriptures. Personalities 
from lower planes are of tener in evidence because they 
are nearer both in space and in character, to the earth 
plane. Good spirits desire to communicate for our 
uplift, and the Spirit of Love permits it. The 
dangers attendant on promiscuous experiences of this 
sort are to be avoided only by an attitude of devotion 

20 



PREFACE 

to the highest inspirations. He who makes the 
Eternal his habitation is in no danger from any source. 
But he will not seek communion with the " dead." He 
will obey only the noblest demands of the spirit, mak- 
ing himself a vehicle for the expression of the divine 
will. 

No one should seek to converse with deceased rela- 
tives. When such communion comes into a life con- 
secrated to love-service, it is a gift of God and should 
be cherished, but it is not for us to seek. No com- 
munion with deceased relatives, or, for that matter, 
with living ones either, can take the place of com- 
munion with God. 

With no feelings but those of respect for many 
estimable and honoured friends who are proud to 
name themselves spiritualists, many of them noble 
people who have been grossly maligned in vulgar 
diatribe by a section of the press and pulpit, I adhere 
to views long held which debar me from their fellow- 
ship as Spiritualists. This is merely a difference of 
conviction as to the wisdom of seeking spirit communi- 
cation rather than permitting it with joy when it 
comes without our seeking. 

I believe the majority of people will find no com- 
fort and little satisfaction in the use of the " ouija " 
board. On the 14th inst. one of the communicating 
voices said to me in answer to a question: 

" It is not wise for any one on earth-plane to try to get into 

21 



PREFACE 

touch with departed relatives. It is possible. That I admit, 
but there is no necessity, and great danger is involved. In 
your own field of observation you will see that, once an indi- 
vidual succumbs to talking with another plane, there sets in a 
slow degeneration physically. Therefore tell those who write 
you that you know of no such medium as they seek, and 
emphasize that this communication with the Twentieth Plane 
is not a matter of that kind. We have a definite truth to get 
across to you. Personalities are entirely left out." 

On January 14th inst. " Coleridge " said to a 
prominent newspaper man in our circle : 

" We say we are real, alive, actual ; that we have not ceased 
to exist because we have been translated from the fifth to the 
Twentieth Plane. We have as much right to the statement of 
that truth as others have, on your side of the plane, — par- 
ticularly those absolutely without evidence of any kind — to 
deny the fact of perpetual existence for the ego. . . . Per- 
haps . . . you can suggest a better method of getting 
across to your plane that which will help the people of your 
world." 

We have long since ceased to use the ouija board 
in our circle. We were told that the Instrument 
would be sustained with forces of which we were not 
aware, so that the important revelation might be com- 
municated. We do not claim any supernatural 
agency in the work, but we think it is unusual and 
possibly it would be best to characterize it, if we must 
do so at all, as supernormal. 

Our preconceptions of immortality encourage us to 

22 



PREFACE 

feel that if the soul lives on after the experience of 
death, there should be no reason why it could not 
manifest itself. " If communication with the so- 
called * dead ' could be established as a fact, the 
belief in a future conscious life would be strengthened 
enormously even to those who accept the ordinary 
religious assurances, and it would vitally affect the 
happiness of those who are entirely agnostic on this 
question " ( A. B.) . John Wesley wrote: " They (the 
unbelievers) know . . . that if but one account 
of the intercourse of men with separate spirits be ad- 
mitted, their whole castle in the air — deism, atheism, 
materialism, — falls to the ground." 

No amount of education can justify any one in 
expressing a judgment anent such experiences as are 
reported in this volume without prolonged personal 
touch with such work. Wisdom costs. Here as else- 
where, there is no royal road to efficiency. The most 
incompetent critic is the mind crammed with data and 
supposing that personality persists only in the remem- 
brance of concrete events. If memory of these were 
the only valid tests of persistence, the lower planes 
only could furnish such evidence of immortality. On 
the higher planes, fundamental tendencies and char- 
acteristics are the only available evidences in most 
cases. 

The scientific method demands conditions suitable 
to the purpose in view. Astral personalities have no 
physical brain. Their brain is finer in substance, and 

23 



PREFACE 

memory of concrete details is not the most substantial 
evidence of identity. These are often recalled by 
association, but a better evidence is found in the per- 
sistence of those qualities essential to the soul. 

The investigator must be a person who understands 
how necessary harmonious conditions are, especially 
in dealing with the higher planes. From these con- 
siderations, I have been led to refrain from reporting 
communications of only temporary or concrete in- 
terest. Evidence of a personal nature is, after all, 
only of local acceptance, and the higher class of evi- 
dence contained in this volume will be accepted only 
by persons who have harmonized their desire to the 
planes with which this revelation brings them into 
communion. 

Although concrete evidence is mostly omitted here, 
such evidence is available in the works of a host of 
writers, among whom are Bennett, Crookes, Doyle, 
Flammarion, Gurney, Hyslop, Lodge, Maxwell, 
Randall, Tuttle, Wallace, Whiting, etc. There is 
probably as much evidence in this as in any other field 
of science. How often must a scientific fact be 
demonstrated? How many arbitrary statements of 
unreasonable antagonism from those who have never 
thoroughly investigated the matter are to be set in the 
equation opposite the definite testimony of one capable 
person who knows the fact that he reports? 

I do not wish to dogmatize. I entered into this 
experience as a sceptic, and, even now, do not claim 

24 



PREFACE 

that the messages are authentic. But the communi- 
cating intelligences do claim this, and all that is left 
for me is to say that they have been received and 
reported accurately and sincerely. To question the 
good faith of the medium is the weakest position that 
an adverse critic could take. My only answer to one 
who queries the bona fides of the Instrument is a re- 
quest that he will examine the chapter entitled The 
Quest of Reality, remembering that the Instrument 
never had more than about half an education such as 
the primary schools of his country afford. 

The reader should remember also that the numbers 
of the planes are purely symbolic and not an accepted 
system of plane numbers. We simply go to the 
planes of our desire, and that desire is based on our 
characters or on the love we feel for some one who is 
a resident of such planes. 



25 



" We are as real as when on earth plane ; that is, we have 
qualities by which we shall permanently be known by all who 
ever knew us." 

— The Publication Committee. 

Do you think it right to pursue the investigation we are now 
engaged in? 

" Yes ; because this is not the picking of a lock on a door 

where is written, ' Do not enter.' This is not a question of 

dates, material information, personal affairs, but the entrance 

of the soul into a higher estate." 

— Emerson. 

What has been the most surprising truth you have learned 

on the Twentieth Plane? 

" That I am alive." 

— Ingersoll. 



26 



INTENTION 

The dialogues in this volume are its essential ele- 
ment. The answers were received. Whatever con- 
tribution to human knowledge the volume contains is 
due to their inclusion. As the reporter of these con- 
versations, I am responsible only for the punctuation, 
the capitals, and all unquoted matter, save only a few 
of the questions, which were suggested by others. 

Louis Benjamin, known throughout these pages as 
the Instrument, the person who mediated these com- 
munications, whether on the Board — described later; 
by automatic writing, which was little used, or in 
trance address, is a commercial man thirty-two years 
of age. Born in Chicago, he came to Toronto when 
six years of age, and has lived here ever since. He 
attended Givens St. Public School, leaving when he 
had attained a senior third standing. He was then 
about twelve years of age, and since then has been 
engaged in commercial life. 

Born of Hebrew parents, he is something of a 
mystic. When I was honorary president of the Boys' 
Club in the West End Y. M. C. A., he was one of 
" my boys." He was ambitious to speak in public, 
and often engaged in " oratorical contests." He 
afterwards became a member, and was for years the 
secretary, of a Bible class of which I was the teacher. 

27 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

He still gives an occasional address, and shows a 
general acquaintance with the popular phases of 
modern thought in Social Science, Politics, Ethics, 
and Theology. His religious thought regards both 
Moses and Jesus, in their human manifestation, as 
products of divine evolution. 

On the morning of January 20th, 1918, the Instru- 
ment was asked by a friend over the Board, in his own 
home, to have his little boy call up the Watsons and 
arrange a meeting in which " a wonderful message 
would be given in the atmosphere of their home." 
His mother came later to the telephone and received 
an invitation to come. 

The first circle meeting was held that evening. As 
I needed rest, I lay on a couch prepared to observe 
proceedings, but without the least expectation of be- 
ing impressed. Deep interest and surprise were soon 
awakened by the unusual and startling originality of 
the answers to the questions I asked. The Instru- 
ment spoke later in trance, and still later — at a subse- 
quent meeting — used automatic writing, reading a 
book in his left hand while his right was engaged in 
inscribing the message. This last form of communi- 
cation, however, was not pursued. 

Thus, as if it had come suddenly out of the blue, 
heralded by a child of five years, came to me these 
revelations which I pass on with the hope that, if the 
war has introduced an undertone of sorrow, these 
pages may bring the realization that our loved ones 

28 



INTENTION 

are near to us with their sweet influences in the full 
measure of their own desire and ours; I trust that 
these communications will bring to bereaved ones the 
assurance that the new life of our heroes who have 
gone forth and passed over as the saviours of our race, 
is one of glorious beauty and unspeakable gladness. 
Looking to the sunward side of bereavement, our 
sorrows shall become wonder-workers, transmuting 
the baser metals of our character into the pure gold 
of nobility and power. 

It will be realized that I am well acquainted with the 
Instrument, having known him for over fifteen years. 
He was not much interested in Poetry, Philosophy, 
or Art, till these communications transpired; he then 
became intensely interested. For some months he 
abstained from reading matter which might have led 
him to suspect that he was himself the reservoir from 
which these communications were derived. Feeling 
that such restriction was likely to lead to a degree of 
mental stagnation, I advised him after three months 
to read what he thought proper to his need in general 
literature. Since then, he has read only for confirma- 
tion of statements emerging in the dialogues. 

The Instrument is well acquainted with the public 
addresses of Lincoln, Disraeli, and Ingersoll, but, be- 
fore the beginning of this investigation, he had but a 
limited acquaintance with other literature. His per- 
sonal style of speaking and writing is not shown in 
these pages. They present a strong contrast with his 

29 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

manner of speech, which reveals a slight tendency to 
unguarded oratorical effect. 

He is aware that any controversy which may arise 
as to the authenticity of the communications reported 
here, must centre in him. He has received no com- 
pensation, has nothing to gain or lose by the accept- 
ance or rejection of any hypothesis concerning these 
communications, and feels' that such disinterestedness 
should be a confirmation of his sincerity. He does 
not wish, nor do I, to be quoted as a spiritist. He 
does not wish, nor do I, to encourage the use of the 
Board, except by scientific persons for the purpose of 
research. He is simply an investigator interested in 
the great problem of man, and incidentally, in human 
immortality. The inspiration which this work never 
fails to give him is his sufficient, and, thus far, his only 
reward. 

All the apparatus used consisted of a board on 
which are printed the alphabet and the digits, an in- 
dicator being used to point to these characters. The 
Board was covered with plate glass on which a powder 
was lightly distributed for purposes of smoother 
manipulation. Ordinarily, we used a light, screened 
through ruby paper, as requested by the Twentieth 
Plane residents, but when trance-speaking was pro- 
ceeding, the stenographer sometimes used an ordinary 
electric light curtained off from the rest of the room 
where the light was slightly modified in its intensity. 
There was always plenty of light. 

30 



INTENTION 

Most of the matter received through the Instru- 
ment while he was in trance is included in the chax^ter 
on Eloquence. By trance we mean a condition in 
which the Instrument, while seated, with the palms of 
his hands on the glass covering the board, his eyes 
closed, gave utterance to the addresses quoted from. 
We have never found the least evidence to show that 
the Instrument remembered or could recall any word 
or impression of the matter to which he had, while in 
trance, given voice. He himself describes the con- 
dition as " a deep, sweet sleep." Some minutes al- 
ways elapsed before he regained his normal conscious- 
ness. 

The themes of the trance-addresses were almost in- 
variably suggested by myself, immediately, or only a 
few moments, before the addresses were given. This 
was usually requested by the communicating intelli- 
gences themselves. During this momentary interval 
between the suggestion of the theme and the trance- 
address the Instrument was in every case busily 
engaged with work on the Board which occupied his 
whole attention. 

The communications which came over the Board 
were received as follows: The finger-tips of the In- 
strument and his assistant, who was usually a woman, 
were placed lightly upon the heart-shaped indicator, 
and as soon as harmonious conditions prevailed, — i 
enhanced by literature read, or music played, the apex 
of the heart moved towards, and pointed out, letters, 

3i 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

spelling the words of the communication. At a later 
date the board was no longer used, a piece of plate 
glass being substituted. 

As to the speed of this process, it may be helpful to 
know that a message consisting of thirty-six words 
was spelled out in exactly one hundred and twenty 
seconds. This allows a little over three seconds to 
each word. Answers came, invariably, without the 
slightest hesitation, the indicator moving instantly to- 
wards the letters of the answer as soon as the question 
was asked, and, indeed, very often before the ques- 
tion was finished. 

The answers quoted in this volume are reported 
accurately. We have not made oath to this fact. 
We regard our yea and our nay as being quite as 
reliable as our affidavits. The questions in the dia- 
logues have not been set off with quotation marks, as 
the latter have been used to make the words of the 
communicating intelligences distinctive. 

The names of those purporting to give the answers 
are stated in every case. As to the questions, ob- 
viously, this was unnecessary. Most of these were 
asked by myself, though sometimes prompted by 
others, this being desired by those addressing us from 
the Twentieth Plane. The questions are varied 
slightly, in some cases, from their original forms. 
They were asked rapidly, and sometimes no stenog- 
rapher was present. They are, however, the essential 
questions asked, and this is true in every case. 

32 



INTENTION 

Throughout these researches, it was my constant 
determination to allow no influence to mar the perfect 
inflowing of " Twentieth Plane communication." It 
was my custom to warn the members of our circle of 
this danger. My words to this purpose, reported 
stenographically, on one occasion (May 6th, 1918) 
were as follows: 

"If any one desires to have a question asked, and will tell 
me what it is, I will ask it, unless it is a personal one. If it is 
personal, it is taboo. No one while here is interested in matters 
mundane at all. They are interested only in intellectual and 
spiritual things." 

Whenever, throughout this book, I say that an un- 
seen personality spoke to us, I do not mean to beg the 
question. It is done to avoid the awkward recurrence 
of such expressions as " this or that personage pur- 
ported to say, etc." I desire throughout these dia- 
logues and my reports thereof to maintain a scientific 
spirit and to leave the reader untrammelled by opin- 
ions other than his own. The careful observer in any 
field of research never regards a theory as being more 
than a hypothesis unless accumulated evidence has 
broken down and cleared away all other and opposing 
theories. 

Where philosophic statements or religious creeds 
are at issue in the dialogues, those only who make the 
statements are to be held accountable for such ex- 
pressions as occur. I am responsible for unquoted 
matter where I am obviously the author of the idea. 

33 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

This is said, not to relieve myself of responsibility, so 
much as to let the reader know his authority for the 
matter in question. 

The Publication Committee consists of Abraham 
Lincoln, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, 
and Robert G. Ingersoll. Some additions and modi- 
fications have been made since, either at their sug- 
gestion or with their unanimous concurrence. 

I present here the report of the Twentieth Plane 
Group Publication Committee: — 

EEPOET OF GKOUP PUBLICATION COMMITTEE 

" In the name of Twentieth Plane Group, we send 
tokens of love, light and joy. We desire to place on 
the records of earth plane the following facts and 
principles to help all seeking, sincere souls : — 

" We are as real as when on earth plane: that is, we 
have qualities by which we shall permanently be 
known by all who ever knew us. 

" Our motive desire is to bring the reality of this 
plane consciousness into definite touch with the con- 
sciousness of the earth plane. The process we would 
use in publication is based on the very important 
foundation that we do not claim to prove our state- 
ment. Things ' proved ' are not usually the strong- 
est. The science of earth plane to-day is often the 
fable of to-morrow. We do claim though to send 
conviction, in so far as our revelation brings conviction 
to your souls. 

34 



INTENTION 

"Under these headings arrange your matter for 
publication : — 

Our statement of intention. 

All religious material. 

All aphorisms. 

Specific matter which shows the characteristics of 
personages. 

All the laws we endeavour to illustrate, such as, 
"All great laws penetrate all planes." 

Chapter or nook for Mother. 

A chapter headed, Questions of Dr. Abbott. 

A portion devoted to things of sheer beauty. 
Shelley will be in charge of this. 

A part for Lincoln. Politics here. 

A part for Ingersoll, headed: The essentials of 
Eloquence and examples of same. 

Poems of A. D. Watson, (a) On Lincoln. 
(b) Title: The Triad, being a poem on Cole- 
ridge, Dora and William, (c) Mother, whose 
splendid faith made these communications 
possible. 

We will add suggestions from time to time. 
Signed 

THE HUMBLE ONES OF THE TWENTIETH 
PLANE.' ' 

When the place of meeting is not indicated, it may 
be understood to have been in our home at No. 10 
Euclid Avenue, Toronto. 

35 



" We are just normal, happy folk, and we know that love is 
the sum of all." 

— Dorothy Wordsworth. 

" The women of the Twentieth Plane are pure, serene, free, 
noble. . . . Your women will rise to this standard, and oh, 
in the name of the gods, I see coming to you, as clear as the 
depths of the blue sky, the place where we stand." 

— Erinna. 



36 



LIFE ON THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

What is life like when we are translated to another 
plane? This chapter is an effort to answer such a 
question in the exact words of Twentieth Plane people. 

Before entering into details of concrete conditions, 
I present a general statement which came lately to us 
through the Instrument when he and his wife and I 
were in the woods near the place of my birth. I had 
asked if the place of our meeting was not almost as 
beautiful as some of the scenes on the Twentieth 
Plane. The answer was given by Louis Agassiz: 

June 28 — Agassiz 

" If your scene was lit by an eternal sky of pink amid which 
was a clustering of gold and green, if your air was the dis- 
tilled essence of astral flower perfume, and if your eyes saw 
more than is in all the physical universe, then you would be only 
on the fringe of the love-lap of nature in which we bask. . . . 

" Do you know how we signal here that time has come for 
certain events ? " 

No. 

" By a strange hush, lasting but the fraction of an earth 
second." 

So instead of making a noise, you make a silence. 

January 20 — Mother 
What do you see where you are? 
" I see all that you see and more/' 
Is there any night where you are? 
11 It is a soft pink twilight." 

37 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

What is your food ? 

" We absorb chemicals." . . , 

April 13 — Mother — Coleridge 

Is there any farming on the astral planes? 

" No ; the chemicals come without our effort. We have 
other important things to do." 

Do you know what the chemicals are? 

" Coleridge will tell you." (Coleridge speaks.) 

Coleridge: — " Proteins. The liquid juice of a rice product. 
A beef extract made of a synthetic meat product. A saccha- 
rine — sugar like your own. We have phosphates. Fats too 
are made here synthetically. All the equivalents of your rich- 
est foods. These constitute our dietary. 

" The distinction between our food and yours is one of 
vibration." 

January 20 — Mother 

Shall we know each other in astral life? 

" Yes, if we want to." 

June 28 — Dorothy Wordsworth 
What does Booker T. Washington look like there ? 
"As we. No difference in soul. Sometimes one wears a 

brown suit, others in white. We are nearly all here the pale 

pink of sea-shells." 

May 4 — Mother 
What are some of the occupations on your plane ? 
" This is of the utmost importance, so I will step aside while 
Samuel speaks. Here he is." 

May 4 — Coleridge 
" One of the most important avocations we follow here is 
this — get it exact : 

38 



LIFE ON THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

" The knowledge that those of your plane require a higher 
form of inspiration is to you obvious, is it not ? " 

Yes, it is. 

" Then we study to be the ego to enter into the consciousness 
of those on your plane who deserve our entry into their sub- 
normal life. Often we have spent years in the thought-life of 
a higher being of your plane. Now in answer to your question 
as to the avocations of this sphere, I can tell you of nothing 
we strive to accomplish half as important as being vehicles of 
the wider light of knowledge to the greater souls of your plane. 
The law for success in that form of activity on our plane is one 
of perfection of character, sincerity, humility, love, sympathy, 
vision, and the electric form of the super-essence of thought- 
vibration, vibrating in the colour-aura of the cosmos in infinite 
activity." 

" Read what I have just stated." (The statement was read.) 

April 20 — Dorothy 

What have you been busy at ? 

" Teaching young folks. Shall I add a little picture of our 
landscape? Then a broad open expanse of sky; in the dis- 
tance, one lone tree; a path to that tree; house, milky white; 
the sun all agleam with the radiance of deep orange; in the 
near foreground, a park, in which open air school is held ; many 
happy children; the teachers all as happy as the scholars. 
The lesson is nature study, so a pigeon is perched on the open 
palm of the instructress. All the little faces thrill, and this 
in the open, where the twilight is like an angel's tread on 
the carpet of God's presence." 

Thank you very much, Dora. You say it is twilight, yet 
you speak of the sun as being up. In just what position is 
the sun, and how can it be twilight with the sun shining? 

" I am merely an observer of nature in the picture view." 

39 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

But do all see it as you do ? 

"As the picture philosophy was told you. Each" sees what 
he looks for." (See page 80.) 

Is that a Twentieth Plane attribute ? 

"All great laws penetrate all planes." 

" Shall I tell you how we punished a delinquent ? Well, we 
ascertained that he coveted the garments of another, so we 
gave them to him. He was cured." 

February 10 — Mother 
Do you talk in words on the astral plane ? 
" Yes, on a word foundation." 

You said you heard Shelley lecture. Did he use words and 
sentences ? 

" Yes, and with word eloquence." 

How are words conveyed there? 

" By a much keener rate of vibration/' 

Are they vibrations of ether ? 

" Yes." 

Then are they light vibrations ? 

" I do not know. Am not a scientist." 

February 18 — Ingersoll 
"We have no doors, but keep out intruders with a wish. 
We eat one meal only. We sleep four hours, like your Edison. 
We have no jails. We have some delinquents, and cure them. 
Sin is disease, as I said in my lecture on criminals. We never 
smoke." 

February 18 — Father 

What is your chief occupation now ? 
" Student now." 

Can you tell us about your environment? 
" Yes. Houses, vegetation, people ; like the Alps in Switzer- 
land." 

40 



LIFE ON THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

January 20 — Mother 
How do you spend your days ? 
' Reading and nursing." 

• • • • • 

Do you sleep well ? 
When I want to. We can do without." 

When you passed over, whom did you first see ? 

11 1 slept for a year. When I waked, I was in a crowd. I 
did not know any of them. I was not lonesome, and did not 
know I had passed over till I had had a few lessons." 

Do you know Frank? [A young friend lately deceased.] 

" No. I am up-stairs, as it were." 

January 2j — Elbert Hubbard 

What are you doing on your plane ? 

"A man of letters." 

Do you have printed books and papers there ? 

" Yes." 

How are they printed ? 

" By thought machines. We think an article into existence 
by concentration." 

Do elements of astral bodies go back to their old forms ? 

"About that." 

How long does one live in the astral body? 

"About two hundred years, but that is no criterion. Long 
life depends on will. I am positive there is no such thing as 
immortality for the human ego if you mean astral or physical." 

If we mean spiritual, what then? 

" Lives forever with self-consciousness ; at varying intervals, 
a little loss, but regained in increased form, as evolution con- 
trols the spirit's progress." 

Has the spirit entity any form? 

"Always a form." 

41 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

That the individual sleeps for a time at his astral 
birth is already shown in the case of my mother. Fur- 
ther evidence appears in the following answers to 
questions : — 

February 10 — Mother 

Tell us of your visit to. . . . 
" She is still in that semi-dream state." 
And yet you say she is very happy ? 
" In wakeful moments." 

February 24 — Coleridge 

" Empirical shall be our talk to-night." 

Who is speaking? 

" Coleridge. . . . We speak from experience. Opium 
was a narcotic I am just recovering from, along with an earth 
characteristic I used to have — that of indolence. ... I 
will answer questions from experience, and not as one greatly 
learned." 

When you passed over, how long was it before you took 
notice of things ? 

" Nearly five years." 

Did you sleep all that time ? 

"A trance-like condition." 

When you waked fully, did you see any one you knew ? 

" Harriet, Hogg, Dorothy, your mother, Shelley, and a note 
from Byron who was in the valley." 

My surprise may be imagined when I heard that 
my mother was present to welcome Coleridge. 
Dates were quite absent from my thought, but I re- 
sponded at once with a true sceptic's query: — 

42 



LIFE ON THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

You say you saw my mother ? She passed over only about 
thirteen years ago. 

" I saw her astral body. Came here on visit to future home. 
Harry's body was on your mother's lap last — oh, say — short 
time ago. Do you know now what I mean ? " 

Yes. Then my mother would be only a little girl. 

" No. Full grown. You do not remember." 

I thought here that Coleridge had been nodding, 
but in these meetings, my duty was to keep the ques- 
tions going, so I left calculations for a more oppor- 
tune moment. I found on referring to authorities 
that Coleridge died in 1834, and, as he claimed to 
have slept five years, the date when he saw my mother 
would be 1839. As my mother was born in 1818, she 
would be twenty-one years of age and " full grown," 
as Coleridge said. 

I should add here that Harry is the five-year-old 
son of the Instrument at the board. On a previous 
evening he had fallen asleep on my knee, and we were 
told that his astral body was being nursed by my 
mother, while his physical body slept. 

Returning to the subject of entry into the astral 
planes, I quote Lincoln: — 

February 24 — Lincoln 

Do many persons pass over without losing consciousness ? 

" None." 

Do any wake immediately? 

"Yes; you will." 

You did not regret your assassination, did you ? 

43 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

" No. Not half as much as Mary Todd." 

Is death as painful as people think? 

" Not painful at all." 

Did you not suffer ? 

" No. Never regained consciousness." 

March 3 — Dorothy 

Will you make clear to us the system of progress in astral 
planes ? 

" 'A sleep and a forgetting ' is the first step. Your mother 
slept one year. Same with brother Will. Abe also. The 
astral body requires about a year to adjust itself to this rarer, 
more mature environment." 

Mother thought I might sleep half a year ; another, not at all. 

" The rule is not an arbitrary one." 

You think I shall not sleep ? 

" Those who told you know best." 

May 5 — Hubbard 

" In the process of so-called death, we die here as on plane 
five (the Earth Plane) ; that is, we go into a state of profound 
coma, and cast to the void useless bodies." 

Is it possible to descend to a lower plane? 

" No, but you go to the valley where the demnition bow- 
wows get you if you are not good." 

Many conversations were just lovely familiar talks. 
There were so many such intimate fellowships, greatly 
enjoyable, that I must not give more than an occa- 
sional one, since there will be many such in the chapter 
on my mother. One such is here reported: — 

June 2 — Dorothy 
"The poem (The Triad) grows. Read the verses on 
William ; he wants to hear them." 

44 



LIFE ON THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

(The four stanzas referring to Wordsworth were read.) 

" Fine ! William is very glad, and will repay with his love 
your beautiful lines. 

" Now, I want to be near you in love. Such love as if a rose 
in the garden saw a lily lonely and told her, * O Lily, my beauty 
of thought and life will sustain you. Give me the beauty of 
your fragrance, give me the soul of your being. I, the rose, 
will tenderly enclose you in the dream-like moon-loved petals 
of this flower-life.' " 

Dorothy, we have a picture of you here. It was taken when 
you were past middle life. 

" Yes, old. I was sitting down, I think. Well it is motherly. 
I mothered three, so I can mother you. 

" This is to show our natural kind of life. We are just 
normal happy folk, and we know that love is the sum of all. 
Now I will go, and as I go, oh, catch from our flower garden 
the perfumed breezes of the astral plane." 

Others recently deceased, from whom communica- 
tions were reprojected through the Twentieth Plane 
[one of these was Ehrlich, the great German scien- 
tist] had to be stimulated in order to get them aroused 
to consciousness sufficiently to communicate. The 
explanation was found in the fact that they had not 
yet waked from their post-translation coma. 

A curious feature of our investigations transj)ired 
in relation to the aura, so well known to the clair- 
voyant. This will be shown best by further quota- 
tions from the dialogues : — 

January 27 — Mother 
Was Hubbard here to-night? 

45 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

"Yes. In the host." 

What is their purpose in coming in such numbers ? 

" To see the auras of you all. They are very beautiful." 

There were sometimes veiled allusions to the aura. 
Possibly one or more are embodied in the following 
answers. In any case, they further evolve our under- 
standing of the aura and its various manifestations: 

March 3 — Dorothy 

Is it a difficult matter for you to communicate with us ? 

" No, Dear. . . . Your beautiful groups make it as 
serene as a shadow on the bosom of a tropical sea." 

You are all new at the process, are you not ? 

" We were until your mother taught us." 

Then we do not tire you ? 

" No. It is the greatest joy of many great joys." 

We love you all too much to seek any pleasure at your 
expense. 

" That is why I come. Your love is noble. The dear boy — 
I will call him Derwent [Derwent is the name of Coleridge's 
third son. We learned this afterwards] little Harry is gor- 
geous in pale translucent green on arm of my new lover, A. D." 

That is lovely, Dora. What Walt Whitman said to me the 
other night — was that just his opinion, or was it true? 

" Walt is a big explosion yet." 

" Harry is on your mother's lap now. Astral body here. 
The group all kissed him." 

Give our love to all members of your group. 

" They project theirs." 

Do you mind telling us about Harry's aura? Mother said 
she could not see it the other night when his astral body was on 
her lap and he asleep on the couch. (See page 48.) 

46 



LIFE ON THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

" The law is that astral body does not show to us an aura." 

Have those on your plane no auras ? 

" Have intense ones, but aura-doctors alone can observe 
them. ,, 

Then is the aura doctor a psychic ? 

" Yes, but uses very delicate instruments and special ability 
to observe them." 

The auras of each of the smaller groups in our in- 
vestigations were described from time to time, the 
meanings of the various colours being stated. The 
reader may be interested to compare these with other 
similar interpretations, with none of which I am 
familiar. It may be well to quote our present 
authorities: — 

January 27 — Shelley 
" Call her of the brilliant aura to the board." 
Do you mean Eulalie? (My daughter.) 
" Yes." 

What are the colours of Eulalie's aura? 
" Purple, orange and green entwined." 
What does purple mean? 
" Worship." 
And orange? 
" Intellect." 
And green? 
" Truth." 

February 18 — Mother 
"Ask sparkling soul to come to the board." 
Is that Eulalie? 

" Yes. I will tell you about colours of auras now." 

47 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

Yes, Mother. Did you hear Prof. Abbott and me talking 
about these ? 

" Yes. I got ready then." 

Tell us what you will, Mother. 

" Pink is devotion. 

" Pure white is the colour of the saints. Ingersoll says 
that Gladstone's aura was green and gold, showing intellect 
and versatility. A. D.'s aura is pink, green, gold, and white. 

" Brown is bad. 

" Black, worse still. 

" Now about white. Listen ! White comes rarely. Only 
Emerson had such an aura in America. 

" Shall I tell you the auras of all present? 

" Sarah's, pink, yellow, green. 

" Professor Abbott's, nearly all yellow. Great intellectual 
colour there. 

"Amy's, pink, white, yellow. 

" Miss M.'s is the same. 

" Mr. M/s, green, white, a little purple because of grief, and 
some red. Strong character there. 

" Girl on A. D.'s right, very, very good ; lots of white, yellow 
and pink. 

" Myrtle's, green, white, pink, and blue. That is originality." 

Do you remember Harry's colour ? 

" He is, in the astral body, on my lap now, so I do not see 
his aura." 

April 29 — Emerson 

" Now I will, if the scholar-girl desires it, tell the meaning, 
intent, purpose, of her subdued aura." (The scholar-girl 
was a University student who was present.) 

" I see there a circle of yellow, a smaller one of green, one 
smaller still of pink, a star of white, and all lit with the eternal 
splendour of blue and pink. 

48 



LIFE ON THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

" These pearls of thought, not thrown to swine, or dissolved 
jn wine, I depart to come again when the winds whine not/' 
(The weather was gusty.) 

Why, Mr. Emerson, do you speak of the aura you have now 
described as being subdued ? 

" Colours, subdued by that dynamic energy in the char- 
acter, of the softened effort of clear thought in reflection and 
repose; for the quiet surface of the deepest pool is one of 
calm silence. Good-bye. ,, 

Dorothy gave a description of this aura as follows: 

May 19 — Dorothy 

"This is how she appears on Hartley's machine: Yellow, 
blue, pink, red, much green, and, around the outer circle, a 
narrow band of white. 

" Mrs. Abbott's is the aura of the mother, pink, yellow, 
white. She is in harmony with the eternal. We love her." 

The subject of travel and transportation occurring 
to me, I became curious to know all about it, and so 
asked Coleridge. Elsewhere, Hubbard states that he 
has a horse which carries him swiftly over the plains 
of that Paradise where the good horses go. Further 
light is elicited in the following colloquy: — 

April 21 — Coleridge 
Do you have ships and navigation? 

" Navigation of thought. No ponderable things like ships 
necessary." 
Are there no means of locomotion like trains, etc. ? 
" No, no, no ! " 

Then your wings are thought ? 

49 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

" Of course, we can travel to places in the body, but it is 
merely the result of a whim." 

In travelling slowly, do you simply think yourselves along? 

" We come to you in thought projection. We usually do 
the same on this plane." 

If you wish then, you can visit your friends on your own 
plane ? 

" Yes ; or they us." 

Do you not see them unless you are near them? 

"As we see, thought and vision are closely allied here." 

Are thought and vision due to nearly the same rates of 
vibration ? 

" Yes." 

February 10 — Dorothy 
Is there a great variety of languages on your plane? 
" The same as in your world, but we combine all languages/' 
Do you mean through thought ? 
" Yes, and thought essence." 
Do you have rain, snow and frost as we do ? 
" No." 

Then do plants grow there without rain? 
" We have moisture, dews." 

Have you the sun, moon and stars there, as we have? 
" Yes." 

Do you feel the heat of the sun as we do here ? 
" We control all such conditions by thought." 
Is medicine used there? 
" Yes. Elixirs. Water here too." . . , 
Has every plane its corresponding valley? 
"Yes. All." . . . 
Are there towns and cities over there? 
" No. We live in groups." 
Not in families in separate homes? 

50 



LIFE ON THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

" In groups." 

Families are not together in definite groups ? 
" No. No ! " 

Case of " birds of a feather flock together ! " 
" Yes, if you want to be graphic." 

Have you met Canada's great woman poet, Isabella Valancy 
Crawford? 

" No. She is on the thirtieth plane. A beautiful poet." 
Is she so regarded over there? 
" Very much so." 

February 10 — Hubbard 

Please tell us how you know the future ? 

" We see causes set in motion. . . ." 

How far are you from us? 

"About 500 miles." 

But the astral plane is right here, is it not ? 

" I am about 500 miles above the earth plane. I am home, 
but my thought is projected to you." 

Tef us exactly what you mean by " home " on the astral 
plane ? 

" Residence. We have our nooks. Twenty is the average 
group in a home. Mother is in our group. She knew she 
could reach you through such a group. That is her reason 
for living with us." 

Can you live with any group you like ? 

" Yes, but governed by character." 

January 27 — Shelley 
What is your particular reason for coming to us to-night ? 
" To obey Albert's mother. Desires are commands here." 
Have you known Mother long? 
" Met her at my talk one year ago." 

51 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

There is presented here, as the reader has observed, 
a picture of life in a very definite environment. The 
fact which most of all impresses one is the entire 
elimination of economic questions from their thought, 
so that to those of the Twentieth Plane, there is no 
threat to self in service of others, as is so often the 
case on the earth plane. 

There is no night there in the sense of gross dark- 
ness, and yet the sacred stillness and the quiet rest that 
so hallow our earth nights when long twilights prevail, 
with beautiful pink and purple sunsets, and opal and 
emerald dawns, are not only present there, they are 
common. 

And there is food as ideal and ambrosial as our poor 
imagination could paint. There is clothing that 
leaves the form divine untrammelled, while it flows in 
filmy folds along the contours of those astral beings 
whose grace and dignity, whose alertness and repose, 
are enhanced by the caresses of its soft enfoldment. 
And there are silken couches of rest. There are land- 
scapes, peaceful valleys and rugged mountains, rivers 
and waterfalls, bays and seas. There are birds that 
sing a sweeter music than we have ever dreamed, and 
the heart listens, if the heart be pure, to the music of 
the spheres. 

There are ministries of joy and sacrifice. There is 
hospitality, so that, for the daily meal, ten chairs are 
set more than the group of resident astrals need, that 
no stranger who may come in may feel unwelcome. 

52 



LIFE ON THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

Their chief occupation is helpfulness. They are 
ministering spirits, who go out in helpful service to 
those who, on earth plane, or other planes of need, 
are longing for inspiration, the wooing kiss of the 
divine that fills the soul with emotion and vision, and 
builds the structures of life to heights of wisdom and 
love and power. But education is another great in- 
terest on the Twentieth Plane. To arrive there is to 
enter the university, and so important is truth in their 
minds that Lincoln says universities will be far more 
important institutions in the future of earth plane 
than they have been in the past. 

And there are all ministries there of which " the 
highest is no higher than the humblest." Only those 
who are not hospitable to the harmonies of that sphere 
fail for a time to enter the glories and inspirations of 
that noble life. The valley is a sort of hospital where 
the sight is treated, the ear opened to the music of the 
world, of which the great silences are the sum, just as 
white is the sum of all the rays of light. 

All the beautiful things that inspire and thrill our 
lives here, are there too. Art and Music, Poetry and 
the Drama, Philosophy and Religion, have there a 
home; and binding and crowning all with a radiance 
that words cannot reveal, the harmonious joy and 
strength of a love that knows no jealousies, so that 
self is forgotten in love-service. 



53 



" There is, in the earth plane, another plane or nation. This 

plane is one of great men, a country to which they come when 
they attain certain vision. When great men come to this plane, 
they know no country, nationality or creed ; they belong to the 
democracy of the universal." 

— Alfred Tennyson. 



54 



CONVERSATION 

If a multitude of people were separated from the 
common mass of humanity by an insurmountable bar- 
rier, — " a great gulf fixed " — and prevented from 
communicating with them for centuries, they would 
in time develop variations in language increasing with 
the years, till at last, their old language would be to 
them what the old Aryan tongue is now to us, the 
basis of our language, but no more. 

Now such a process of variation may be imagined 
as being in operation on the Twentieth Plane. New 
idioms and new phrases would come into use, making 
their speech, to us, who hear it after the lapse of cen- 
turies, picturesque, and giving to it a colour and fresh- 
ness which to us would come as a wonderful breeze of 
originality. 

We know too that whatever takes form in a lan- 
guage must have a foundation in thought. If we are 
to contemplate such a place and people and language, 
we are compelled to expect a vividness and freshness 
of style, matter, expression and illustration such as 
would inspire with a constant delight, wonder and 
surprise. 

But, since those on the Twentieth Plane are de- 
termined that we shall understand them, they are 
obliged to convey their thoughts to us in terms that 

55 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

we clearly comprehend. Hence we are not likely to 
hear their speech in its full flowing of originality. 
And yet, some evidence of such changes in language 
would inevitably transpire, furnishing examples of the 
variation to which we have referred. 

The present chapter is devoted to an examination 
of the dialogues with the hope that we shall discover 
the truth about the language of the Twentieth Plane. 
One of the most striking expressions describes my son 
as " The boy of Watson," my daughter as " The girl 
of Watson." On another occasion my son was termed 
" the boy-man," another young friend was termed the 
scholar-girl, and many such peculiar expressions were 
used on various occasions. 

On the first evening of our investigations, a phrase 
came over that lies in the borderland between real 
originality and the colloquialism of the alert masses. 
When my mother's former prejudices against the 
Roman Church were referred to by me, she replied: 

" I unrolled that streak." 

Such a phrase, by calling up a vivid picture, gives a 
somewhat dramatic force to the thought expressed. 

Another illustration of the graphic nature of the 
language on the Twentieth Plane came over when I 
inquired why I could not get results with the board 
myself. The significant reply of my mother was: 

" You are heavy ballasted, Louis floats." 
56 



CONVERSATION 

When asked further as to my engaging in Psychical 
pursuits, the reply came : 

" You must seek for most things, but this will seek 
you when you need it." 

Here also the picture method is employed. 

One of the most common features of the language 
used in the dialogues is the large significance of 
thought conveyed by few words. Thus Mother 
stated in our first meeting, January 20th, that 

" Shelley looked on earth as other men look here." 

The same was said later of Dante. One sees at once 
the wistful face of the wonder-souled boy-poet, and 
also the love-illumined eyes of the morning star of the 
Italian renaissance. Asked if she had seen Keats, 
the reply came: 

" He is on Shakespeare's plane ; his spiritual son. Very 
much higher." 

We were taking refreshment, so I asked Mother if 
she would not have some. 

" I will take a little love-beverage," 

she replied. Hubbard had such an exhaustless vocab- 
ulary when on earth that his words must be reserved 
chiefly as examples of personal characteristics, but one 
answer is given here because it seems to be one that 
must have been used before. 

57 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

January 20 — Hubbard 

Where did you meet Mother ? 
"At Shelley's lecture." 
What was the lecture like ? 

" The eloquence of Ingersoll, the wisdom of Whitman, the 
imagery of Keats, and then some." 

The last answer seems to have been thought out. 
The slang at the end may have been simply an earth 
characteristic retained on the astral plane, but I was 
not sufficiently well acquainted with Hubbard as a 
conversationalist to know his habit in relation to this 
rather commonplace slang. 

Speaking of poems, by various persons, on The 
Skylark, Shelley said that one written by Keats, since 
he passed over, was far finer than that written by 
Hogg on the earth -plane. As Hogg was present and 
heard this remark, Dorothy added, by way of ex- 
planation : — 

February 10 — Dorothy 
" Hogg does not mind ; candour is the soul's life." 

Miss Wordsworth, many of your brother's poems have been 
criticized as being very simple, almost commonplace, while 
others are really very great. Is the criticism a valid one ? 

" Spontaneity is a blessing." 

This way of passing over the particular fact as of 
no moment and presenting the general principle is one 
of the most important methods of the Twentieth 
Plane. It constantly recurs in the dialogues. 

58 



CONVERSATION 

April 13— Mother 

I am profoundly impressed by the communications we are 
receiving. They seem to be truly revelations. 

" They are very important." 

Do those of the Twentieth Plane feel as we do about them? 

" Yes, it is a startling thing to us all ; more so than to you." 

It is very gratifying to me to hear all of your group speak of 
you as they do. 

" I am a sister of God." 

March 17 — Carlyle 

I want to thank you for Sartor Resartus. 

" I am humble in the greatness of that book. I thank myself 
for it." 

How ? In what sense do you mean it ? 

" I forgot self when writing it." 

You find Emerson congenial, do you not ? 

"Always did. Our earth letters show that." 

Do you remember Dr. George Sexton calling on you? 

" Yes ; he was a great psychic. He was in my sound-proof 
room. He ate gingerbread with me, then we talked of the 
French Revolution. Smoked infinite tobacco; stunk with it 
Taboo now, as Elbert says." 

Do you find it a great deprivation ? 

" No." 

Does one feel a desire for stimulants on the astral planes if 
one has had the appetite here ? 

" For a period." 

Have you met Tennyson? 

" Yes ; on this plane." 

Browning? 

" Higher." 

Is Browning with Keats ? 

" No." 

59 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

The earth-plane, having been described as the fifth 
plane, I asked: — 

March 51 — Dorothy 
What about the four planes below the earth-plane? My 
thought about them is hazy. 

" They are hazy planes. Let it go at that." 

Do inhabitants diminish in number on the higher planes? 

" On planes near the fifth, more people than here. The ratio 
increases till the tenth is reached. On 1000th, there are very 
few. You know, types like Plato, Socrates, Bahai, etc. There 
is no end of progress, but we cannot comprehend beyond the 
1 oooth." 

Is there much difference between successive planes? 

" Yes ; as between people on your plane. The numbering is 
done in an effort to show the steps of a ladder, as it were, but 
only in a general sense; not arbitrarily at all. Just a symbol 
system." 

Are all systems of numbering astral planes and sub-planes 
also merely symbolical? 

"Arbitrary. Too supposedly exact, and therefore erroneous. 
Stumbling to light through the darkness." 

April 6 — Emerson 
I suppose it does not matter just how one numbers them? 
" Freedom is a beacon light which says, ' Ever on/ ,] 
There is no end to their number ? 
" No." 

There is no end to any good? 

" No. I must leave. I wave a hand of love. I will re- 
turn. Good-bye." 

One pleasant feature of the language of the Twen- 

60 



CONVERSATION 

tieth Plane has its deepest foundation in a certain 
rare courtesy which seems not to be rare in the group 
that is most in communication with us. I refer to 
numerous descriptive or complimentary designations 
by which those on the astral heights speak of us. A 
few of these improvised designations are added here. 

" Little Jewel of Light," " Sparkling Soul," " Her 
of the brilliant aura," " Little Sparklet," " Dimple of 
Sunshine," " Purity," " Devotion." These were all, 
as may be inferred from their character, applied to 
women and children. Those, chiefly, who used these 
designations were Dorothy Wordsworth, Shelley, and 
Hartley Coleridge. Special titles applied to those of 
the sterner sex were mostly improvised by Elbert 
Hubbard, and are more appropriate to the chapter on 
Characteristics of Personages. 

Some of the most beautiful language used by these 
illuminati emerged in their opening and closing 
words. Many such examples occur in the next chap- 
ter. Mother so often introduced others or closed the 
proceedings, that it became her special function to 
utter beautiful messages, and she used the oppor- 
tunity with great skill. Those who knew her should 
remember that even admitting authenticity, the per- 
sonalities are greatly changed by development. 

April 21 — Father 
" Now, my Son, a little message from Mr. Clare, then we 
seek the silken couches of rest." (Mr. Clare is my wife's 
father.) 

61 



/ 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

" Now, my Boy, I will, as the star does, go, but come again 
in the heaven of your mind.' , 

Same date — Coleridge 
" The day was gray, but then our thoughts were of the light 
behind the cloud. Is this not like life? I am here as, I am 
sure, a welcome guest from the Twentieth Plane. I will 
simply say, S. T. C." 

On a great many occasions tests were proposed 
from the Twentieth Plane, and these were very often 
concerned with language and literature. The historic 
setting also afforded many good tests, which, while 
not entirely conclusive, were a part of the colour and 
atmosphere of the evidence. Thus Shelley's refer- 
ence to the harpsichord, page 131; Shakespeare's 
reference to the ships of Drake, page 98; Sappho's 
allusion to the Peripatetics, page 140. Sometimes a 
casual allusion afterwards gleamed out in the guise of 
a very good point of evidence, as when Walter Pater 
said that Victor Hugo had compared Shakespeare 
with the ocean. It developed during the next week 
that Victor Hugo's book one, chapter two, in volume 
six of his works, Guernsey edition, is just such a com- 
parison. The chapter is contained in one page and 
the splendour of its artistry is such as to warrant its 
inclusion here in full: — 

" There are men, oceans in reality. These waves ; this ebb 
and flow ; this terrible go and come ; this noise of every gust ; 
these lights and shadows; these vegetations belonging to the 
gulf ; this democracy of clouds in full hurricane ; these eagles 

62 



CONVERSATION 

in the foam ; these wonderful gatherings of clouds reflected in 
one knows not what mysterious crowd by millions of luminous 
specks, heads confused with the innumerable; those grand 
errant lightnings which seem to watch ; these huge sobs ; these 
monsters glimpsed at ; this roaring, disturbing these nights of 
darkness; these furies, these frenzies, these tempests, these 
rocks, these shipwrecks, these fleets crushing each other, these 
human thunders mixed with divine thunders, this blood in the 
abyss; then these graces, these sweetnesses, these fetes, these 
gay white veils, these fishing-boats, these songs in the uproar, 
these splendid ports, this smoke of the earth, these towns in 
the horizon, this deep blue of water and sky, this useful sharp- 
ness, this bitterness which renders the universe wholesome, this 
rough salt without which all would putrefy, these angers and 
assuagings, this whole in one, this unexpected in the immutable, 
this vast marvel of monotony inexhaustibly varied, this level 
after that earthquake, these hells and these paradises of im- 
mensity eternally agitated, this infinite, this unfathomable, — 
all this can exist in one spirit; and then this spirit is called 
genius, and you have iEschylus, you have Isaiah, you have 
Juvenal, you have Dante, you have Michael Angelo, you have 
Shakespeare ; and looking at these minds is the same thing as 
to look at the ocean." 

The reader will surmise that I have not quoted this 
chapter, page, sentence, entire, merely to show that 
Walter Pater was really talking and that his test was 
verified. It is embodied here because, besides being 
evidence, (not conclusive evidence of course, there can 
be no such evidence in the nature of the case) it fur- 
nishes an excellent example of that ideographic, or 
picture language which seems to be so entirely the 
Twentieth Plane expedient for conveying thought. 

63 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

It will be best to develop this idea by the use of the 
dialogues. Incidentally, a conundrum of perennial 
interest to the literary world is apparently solved. 

May ii — Dorothy 
" We have a great surprise for you all. You could not guess 
in a hundred years who will speak. We had to beseech him. 
We always have a definite purpose in our work. This is in- 
teresting and will clear up a mystery. Who is it ? We know 
you cannot guess, so here I introduce in Twentieth Plane love, 
Edmund Burke." 

May ii — Edmund Burke 

" I greet you all as brothers. This is my pleasure, the 
pleasure of an old Irish statesman, for Erin was the island of 
my dreams. I come to give the secret which oft lay on my 
heart when on your plane, and which I had not the power to 
reveal before the change called death came knocking at my 
door. I wish this taken down exactly. 

" I was the author of the Letters of Junius. Now, Doctor, 
I will in every way answer questions to substantiate my state- 
ment." 

I believe the letters are generally attributed to Sir Philip 
Francis. 

"A man named George Gilfillan made some research and hit 
the truth. He refers to John Wilkins. John Wilkins and self 
were the authors. I was the phrase-maker. John Wilkins 
outlined the thought." 

Was this George Gilfillan who wrote " The Bards of The 
Bible"? 1 

1 " We could quote fifty pithy sentences from Junius and from 
Burke which placed in parallel columns would convince an unprej- 
udiced critic that they came from the same mind." Gilfillan's 
Literary Portraits. Everyman's, page 181. 

6 4 



CONVERSATION 

" I believe so." 

Have you been suggested as the author elsewhere? 

" I think I was. Not sure." 

Then we are to understand that you and Wilkins were the 
authors ? 

" Positively, yes." 

Are you in touch with the Irish question? 

" Yes ; very much so. They tell me to tell you this, as of 
interest, I come from the Twenty-first Plane." 

Are there other statesmen on that plane? 

" Yes ; statesmen of light and imagination who applied 
poetical principles of statesmanship to practical questions ; such 
as Pitt, Fox, etc." 

These are with you? 

" Yes." 

(Here there was an interruption for which I expressed re- 
grets.) 

" It allowed Hartley to adjust machine to higher rate of 
vibration. Now I will correct error. The name Wilkins 
should have been John Wilkes. I will give the basis of a 
system whereby the mystery of the letters may, from your 
standpoint, be cleared up. Many similar ideas and principles 
found in my French Revolution and the Philosophy of the 
Sublime and the Beautiful you will find disguised in the Junius 
letters." 

Are you engaged much as a public speaker now, Mr. Burke? 
Yes, but do not call me Mr. or Monsieur, or Signor. Call 
me ' Burke/ " 

Is there much writing there? 

" None except of records. Not books." 

Keats wrote a poem there, did he not ? 

" But poems not collected." 

Dora has a copy, I understand. 

" The voice is a better medium than the cold page." 

65 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

But the voice is evanescent ; the cold page, permanent. 

" I meant here. We can recall all at the behest of desire. 
We have all the libraries here in counterpart. Sanskrit is pre- 
served as the most sacred language." 

When Sappho spoke to us she used English. 

"As the medium, so the language. Thought belongs to the 
universal. Our thinking is as your music, the language under- 
stood by all. . . . We speak with the glance of an eye, the 
heaving of the bosom, the walk of courage, the head held high. 
I will quote a translation now from the Greek, to express my 
thought : 

" 'Behold ^Eschylus as he strides along, his head erect, a man 
above them all/ 

" The body, the effort, the thought here is a part of the lan- 
guage." 

You have met Fox? 

"And Chatham the elder. Walpole is here." 

Do you live in groups on the Twenty-first Plane ? 

" Yes ; groups. Your group is something like ours here. 
Those of the same rate of vibration and the same pitch and 
key-note are naturally singing together in groups." 

Do you visit Plane Twenty ? 

" Yes." 

Is the landscape there similar to yours? 

" Things become to us shrines of everlasting grandeur." 

Is that on the Twenty-first Plane ? 

"On the Twentieth too. As the moon observed in the 
Venetian city from a gondola is more beautiful than the moon 
of the desert, so the splendour of this plane is more sublime 
than that of the Venetian sky." 

Have you any interest in the Irish question ? 

" Yes. But it is in chaotic form, so let the cauldron boil. 
The residue will be pure gold." 

Was Parnell a really great man? 

66 



CONVERSATION 

" Very. And she was his viper. 

" Stung him to death. How cruel the vampire when it sucks 
blood! Reason, sense, dignity, courage, the control of high 
purpose all gone." 

The love worth while should stimulate these ; should it not ? 

" Yes. And now I must go and think thoughts for oration. 
May I come again with Fox ? " 

May ii — Mother 
" I was back of his coming. I try to be the guide of them 
to you, and never have I regretted a single act performed in 
the spirit of this plane." 

Some idea of what is necessary in a psychic circle 
may be obtained from the first paragraph of the fol- 
lowing dialogue, in which an important meeting is 
arranged and the personnel of the gathering is 
adequately provided for: — 

May ii — Shelley 

"Will Purity be there? It is of importance. And as the 
centre from which to draw intellectual energy, we want the 
girl-scholar; and, of course, Devotion, and Service, and all in 
this room without a single exception. Let death be your only 
reason for absence." 

Was Kate Wordsworth, of whom Dorothy spoke, the wife 
of her nephew, Charles Wordsworth? 

" More of her anon." 

What colour is Dorothy's hair? 

"As the sun burnished by Jove." 

Her eyes ? 

"As the blue depths of the Morning's glory." 

67 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

Her gown? 

" Drapery of flowing clouds of white." 

I always thought Mrs. Eddy a very beautiful soul. 

" But Edith Cavell, when she came here, and wakened amid 
the flowers and trees of this plane, was perhaps the most won- 
derful vision of beauty in repose that we have ever seen. Dora 
is a wild pagan of glory. Mary is the quiet beauty of thought ; 
Edith is the sleeping beauty of time. 

" Now, brother quill-user, I will depart. The pool you saw 
was vision of this plane reconverted to you. 1 Water finds its 
level. And now, in your eyes the Twentieth Plane comprehen- 
sion, in your soul the spirit of our life, in your life the idealism 
back of the purpose of things ... all in contact are along 
the road to immortality, so be not faint." 

The reader will appreciate the impossibility of 
presenting matter from the dialogues pertaining to 
one particular theme without showing in it many 
things of ulterior interest. The multiplex lights that 
shimmer in these prisms of speech may detract the 
reader's attention from the qualities of the sentences 
in which they are embodied, but at least it will be seen 
that there is much originality in the style, and espe- 
cially in the nature of the pictures presented. The 
language of the Twentieth Plane is essentially 
picturesque. 

The lesson is one we too might learn. To find in 
pictures the chief interpreters of life would give a 

1 This was a reference to a line I discovered in my consciousness 
on waking a day or two previously. " The silvery pool that dreams 
in the moonlight." 

68 



CONVERSATION 

verbal vividness to our literature, which is too often 
childishly imitative. Instead of making pictures of 
life we make only pictures of pictures. 

From the examples cited, it will be seen that the 
language of the Twentieth Plane, as it is revealed to 
us, has those peculiar qualities pertaining to a trans- 
lated speech. Is it the language of those who, having 
been long accustomed to a universal speech foreign to 
ours, see the pictures they paint before they utter 
their descriptions in words, but do not, as we so often 
do, proceed to the use of words till they see that the 
pictures their imaginations create have some true 
resemblance to their thought? Their conversation 
suggests to me a universal Twentieth Plane language, 
one not in use on the earth plane. 

May 26 — Wordsworth 

" Love is gleaming here on the flagpole of our higher pur- 
pose." 

" When a silver bugle disturbs the quiet air here, birds stop 
to listen to the silvery sound." 

May 26 — Coleridge 

" Love is cosmic energy flowing silently, harmoniously, to a 
higher source and back again as the clock-ball swings from 
side to side. 

" Love flows from God. It is always silent, strong, har- 
monious, noble, and is the thinking of God in the central 
portion of His Universe. 

" Love is God happy. Love is God serene. Love is the 
tear of joy on the eyelashes of God." 

69 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

The next most remarkable quality of Twentieth 
Plane converse is a certain parenthetic characteristic. 
Nowhere else have I ever found this quality so much 
in evidence. The speaker often splits a sentence as 
one splits a log with a wedge, driving a subsidiary 
thought most unexpectedly into the very heart of a 
longer sentence. I thought at first that Coleridge 
was the chief one to manifest this characteristic, and 
that the others who showed the same quality might 
have been led to do so by listening to his speech, but 
the habit is too general for such an explanation, and I 
fancy it comes of using a language which is like a 
literal translation of the thought, with very few 
idioms employed. 

A very characteristic example will serve to show 
this quality: — 

July 6 — Coleridge 

" I want to ask the Scholar-girl a question : 

" In writing the history of an epoch, where have the his- 
torians of the past, — granting the greatness of Gibbon and 
Green and all others — failed? 

" The failure has been, — and see later how this will fit in 
with my suggestion of study — History has been written of 
great characters, men and women of wealth ; not of the nation 
en masse, but of the princes of the aristocracy. , Now, in every 
epoch, and increasingly so, the most important factor in evolu- 
tion has not been the great character, the aristocrat, but the 
poor, the masses, their needs and desires ; I mean History has 
been written of the minority while the majority was the con- 
trolling factor in evolution." 

70 



CONVERSATION 

July J — George Eliot 

Can one describe a character in fiction and make that char- 
acter better than his own ? 

" We can never express all we are. I wrote the full picture, 
not as recent novelists write, not mere lines, dabs and question 
marks. 

" Do you know the one from whom I took the pseudonym 
of Georgie? It was taken bodily with malice aforethought 
from — I am witty now, trying to be — from Georgie Sand. I 
admired her very much. 

" Do you know the name of my last husband ? " 

Was it not Cross ? 

" He was a character of peculiar interest to me because I 
was only with him for eight months. He was never satisfied, 
never in sympathy with one's literary work. He is here with 
me now, and will speak soon." 

Here George Eliot evinces another characteristic 
elsewhere referred to, namely, frankness. Mr. Cross 
did not seem to be hurt by this remark, though we 
have not at this writing heard him speak. We as- 
sume that so profound an ethicist would not have said 
a thing that would hurt a friend, who must have 
been on the Twentieth Plane because of his desire of 
being with her, since he was not in sympathy with 
her literary work. 

There is little doubt that the restrictions or 
resistance of inadequate language-symbols constituted 
a real obstruction to our investigations at times. 
Possibly the higher the resistance the greater the 
illumination as is the case with the electric current. 

7i 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

But if the resistance be too great, the whole process 
of illumination ceases, so we hear from Sir Edwin 
Arnold: — 

June 23 — Edzvin Arnold 

" There are many rajahs here, but they are not able to com- 
municate through an occidental instrument." 

How did you like India? 

" I often said, this is my true home. Will the great Indian 
aura still converse with me?" (Arnold referred here to the 
Indian poet Akali — Kartar Singh — who was with us at the 
time.) "Is this not a teaching of India? The soul climbs 
to a higher altitude when thought is noble and breathing is 
deep." 

In proceeding, Arnold not only taught a law of 
the east, but gave an example of the parenthetic 
method referred to in this study: — 

"All Brahmins realize that the utterance of prayers in 
measured time gains, because of the self-control this engenders, 
greater force as the prayer is issuing from the soul, until at 
the end of the exaltation, almost complete soul-detachment is 
attained." 

Then prayer is really a unison with the divine, a realization 
of the divine will ? 

" This is so true that India may almost despair of the Occi- 
dent when she realizes that the Occident dissipates nearly all 
its divine energy. . . . 

" India is going to come to her own at one great bound within 
the next ten years, and this will be the process: At the close 
of the earth conflict, Great Britain will grant to India home 
rule. Then the great Indian centres, such as Bombay, will 

72 



CONVERSATION 

found institutions where the great Indian thinkers will prepare 
missionaries to their own people and spread religious truth 
both east and west. . . . Caste will be the greatest 
obstacle." 

It was explained subsequently that the reason for 
the inability of the rajahs to speak through an oc- 
cidental instrument was not because of the difference 
of language, but of points of view. They seem to 
be philosophically less centred in phenomena than we. 
The claims made on other occasions would lead us 
to suppose that our particular Instrument might have 
succeeded in mediating the thoughts of the rajahs 
more effectively than Arnold dreamed. 



73 



Is there anything you wish to say, Mother? 
" Yes. I love you tenderly. 

" We are preparing to receive thousands from the earth- 
plane, and we are resolved to give our best to these souls just 

arrived." 

— Mother. 



74 



A NOOK FOR MOTHER 

According to every canon of fitness, the first 
Twentieth Plane personality who should be carefully 
studied here is my mother. It was through her 
patient effort long continued that a nexus was first 
established between the Twentieth Plane and ours, 
which latter plane is known to them as the fifth. The 
news of this event seems to have been something of a 
sensation on the Twentieth Plane, for several persons 
have spoken to us of the news having reached them 
that such communication had been opened. 

Here, unfortunately, messages from my mother 
are not, except to me, very evidential. Mother is 
not known to fame, however worthy of it. At this 
time, I do not care to take the reader into my con- 
fidence by showing him the quality of her greatness. 
Let her characteristics of mind and heart repose in 
their strength and solitude where only those who knew 
her well and, therefore, loved her much may cherish 
her memory. 

The dialogues themselves will unveil a measure of 
her fine restraint. The reader must, therefore, 
imagine the personal power lying behind those simple 
but eager words in which she expresses a certain calm- 
ness and intensity. The fact that she is speaking to 
her son gives occasion for more ardour than others 
have ever observed in her address. This may detract 

75 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

from the evidential value of her words, for that fine 
self-restraint which is usually acquired in a university 
or other department of the school of life was hers 
always. This was true of her from the days when as 
a child on the English coast of Suffolk, she "wantoned 
with the breakers " at Covehythe, even till that day 
when, arriving by train alone in this city, she lay down 
in sleep and waked serene to the vision of the " soft, 
pink twilight," the waterfall that " spills over crystal 
rocks," the Alpine uplift of the distant landscape, 
and the sound of the sphere-music of a new home- 
land. 

Her mind and movement were alert and active to 
the last hour. Dorothy Wordsworth, in a trance-talk 
described her aptly: 

" I well remember seeing her for the first time. 
My attention and interest were aroused by a sprightly 
form walking down the street with lithe movement 
and erect bearing, and I felt that here was a noble 
woman I should love to know." 

I should hesitate to present this chapter for the 
reader's consideration were it not in consciousness of 
the fact that probably he too has a mother who would 
regard him as " a monument to a mother's ideal." 
Moreover, it seems necessary to provide a " scene " or 
setting for that play of restfulness and power evi- 
denced in all those dialogues where she appears. 
Those who are seeking more minute or exact evidence 
from the view-point of personal characteristics, will 

76 



A NOOK FOR MOTHER 

find it, such as it is, in the next chapter, nevertheless, 
it is hoped that the present briefer one may not be 
without value to all who have climbed to a large 
appreciation of a true mother's love and tenderness. 

January 20 — Mother 
" Keep your voice low. Light comes where there is least 
disturbance." 

January 27 — Mother 
Is there anything you wish to say, Mother? 
" Yes ; I love you tenderly." 

. • • 

Do you like Shelley ? 

" Yes." 

Do you like everybody ? 

" No." 

Did we disturb you by calling you to-night ? 

11 Yes. I wanted to be disturbed." 

Do any on the astral planes personate well-known people, 
and does it occur often? 

" Yes, from first astral planes. Not from this plane." 

You spoke of the first astral planes. Are they numbered, 
and if so, which are you on? 

" Yes ; about the twentieth." 

I asked about a mutual friend. 

" He walks the valley of burning chaff." 

Shall we not all have much chaff of non-essentials to con- 
sume ? 

" Yes. But not so much as mortals think. Some can hardly 
forget money. It nearly damns them. It is a drag. It seals 
them up. Then they have to thaw out in the valley." 

77 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

Is Byron with you? 

" He is in the valley straightening his crooked leg." 

You mean his club foot ? 

" No. I am speaking figuratively." 

February 10 — Mother 

" The gentle touch of evening be o'er your souls. I am here 
again, dear son Albert. Oh, be gentle, dear folks, I require 
calmness. Ask the question in your heart, dear boy." 

Ingersoll says he teaches in a college. Is that on your plane, 
the twentieth, Mother? 

" Yes. I go to lectures there." 

Are Ingersoll, Emerson, and Carlyle of a separate group 
from yours ? 

" Yes. They are of three different groups." 

February 18 — Mother 

" Dear, dear Albert, Mother is here. Hush all the trem- 
blings of earth influences. Be as passive as a little child asleep. 
Ask all questions, my son." 

Does the aura disappear when we sleep? 

" Not always, but it takes journeys." 

Does it usually leave the physical body during sleep ? 

" No. Only in dreams, especially some dreams, but not full- 
stomach dreams." 

Just in dreams of exaltation? 

" Yes." 

Do the colours of auras change? 

" Changing like sunlight and shadow on the bosom of a lake." 

March 17 — Mother 
" My boy Albert, I am again in your circle of love. Greet- 
ings of fraternal love from the Mother group. Ask all ques- 

78 



A NOOK FOR MOTHER 

tions, but remember that Jesus was as gentle as a child. Be 
amid the soft white meshes of His spirit." 

How is our group to-night, Mother? 

"As usual, very good. . . . Abbott, and Son are ex- 
tremely powerful." 

I want you to know also our friends, Mr. and Mrs. Henry 
Saunders. 

" I delight to meet them. I kiss them in holy Twentieth 
Plane love." 

Give our love to all members of your group. 

" They have it." 

Will you tell us of Harry's aura? 

" His aura is blue, pink, yellow, and a wee tiny speck of 
white. That white is from God and will grow." 

Louis' aura? 

" Purple, the colour that soars, pink, blue and red. You 
know, lots of courage." 

Have the lower animals auras ? 

" Yes ; especially those that come in contact with humans." 

Do they also have astral bodies? 

II Some only. The horse has." 

Do you know, Mother, whether the answers we have re- 
ceived have been influenced to any extent by the instrument ? 
" They have slightly." 

Mother, do you ever think of the old homestead? 

11 Yes, and the trees which, near the door, I loved so well." 

When I go there, I think of the flowers you used to care 
for so tenderly. 

" Yes, they are now in Shelley's ' Sensitive Plant.' " 

I go out often. Did you know? 

" I missed your colour there for some weeks now." 

(I had not been out during the winter because of the deep 
snow.) 

79 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

The clock struck the hour of midnight. 

" Was that a bell I heard just now?" 

It was our clock striking. 

"Well, well!" 

Do you not think it has a beautiful sound? 

" The climax of harmony in a chorus of angels." 

We have not heard from Shelley for some time. 

" He will come on a special evening in your office, and the 
following conditions are to be observed: You, Louis, and 
Myrtle alone on the board for a Shelley time when you desire 
it." (See Poetry.) 

Having been asked a question of a philosophic trend one 
evening (April 6th) Mother answered: 

" Yes ; but, my boy, you would have me a philosopher, while 
I would be a mother. O Albert, I want to love you so much. 
You are as Ingersoll just said, a monument to a mother's ideal. 
May I go now so as to rest for the time of times of the 
morrow ? " 

April 6 — Mother 

" The group — I suppose I may say, my group — are sitting 
now in a valley. Above are many trees. The side of the hill 
is carpeted with grass. We can hear a waterfall spill over 
crystal rocks, and birds are fluttering here and there. Now in 
this lovely scene of nature, you attuned to us, we to your 
group, whom will you have converse ? " 

Mother, will you tell us whether these scenes arouse in you 
lofty thoughts and feelings, that is, do they act chiefly as 
symbols, or are they just objects and no more? 

" I see all the vision such things arouse in my soul." 

Does Dorothy see exactly what you see ? 

"A little more, for she is a poet." 

Would Ingersoll see something different? 

" Coleridge will answer." (Coleridge speaks.) 

80 



A NOOK FOR MOTHER 

"A great painting on your plane will reflect to the faculty of 
perception just exactly all the Art one has in his make-up/' 

I understand. The basis of the actual is as real in that 
scene in which you are the actors as in the painting of which 
you speak. 

" Precisely so." 

Here may be noted, not only the statement of a 
principle in answer to a question of particulars, re- 
ferred to in the last chapter, but also a feature in my 
mother's character which found many similar illus- 
trations throughout these dialogues, viz., the modest 
reference, to one more competent to deal with them, 
of all questions of a philosophic, scientific, or subtly 
artistic nature. Yet here as well as elsewhere, 
Mother shows by her own answers that she has a fine 
working knowledge of the principles which underlie 
all these questions. She refers them to others be- 
cause she wishes us to have a more orderly statement 
of them than she is accustomed or even qualified to 
give. 

It is in her opening and closing remarks that 
Mother usually gives us the most beautifully restful 
words. Here is one of her closing messages' in which 
she alludes to a coming reunion: — 

April 13 — Mother 

"Well, my Boy, the hour has struck, but in withdrawing, 

before I pull the silken curtains of my departure, I say, as your 

father told me to say: 'Albert, this place is far beyond the 

most beautiful vision in "Love and the Universe."' So I 

81 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

leave; you will be here; what could make a mother happier? 
Dora has Harry, but she will kiss him and give him to Devo- 
tion. Good-bye." 

April 21 — Mother 

" My boy, I come in the soft meshes of love to you. How 
are you, Albert, my boy ? " 

I am exalted and happy. Do you know the Mother poem I 
have written for you? 

" Yes. I lay the tribute of my love on your breast for such 
sweet token of your life in tune with mine, dear boy." 

The chapter also on Mother in the book? Do you like it? 

" Well, I will say this : Yes. No. You see, dear son, you 
say I am worthy of the greatest place, but, Albert, I here feel 
more humble each little while." 

Well, I will take the responsibility for that part of the 
chapter. 

" Well, so be it." 

Coleridge is great. 

" We call him here, ' the brilliant mind/ Once we saw 
flames belch from his eyes." 

Indicating what? 

" That he was a volcano of truth." 

May 4 — Mother 

"Albert, my own, here I am as one who just softly came to 
kiss the darling of her dreams in wakeful and quiet moments. 

* Dora says I often mention your name when in the lap of 
a restful reverie. And so, Dear Albert, I speak to you the 
words of a mother's love." 

May 5 — Dorothy 
" I come as a little girl carrying a message from your 
mother. Shall I read it ? This parchment reads : ' Dear Al- 

82 



A NOOK FOR MOTHER 

bert: Mother stepped aside to allow the men of wisdom to 
converse, but she is happy in the knowledge that you and all 
the souls in the circle of your home are being lifted up to the 
heaven where all things love God/ " 

Mothers Day — May 5 — Mother 

"You and we will now rise from the couches of rest and 
enter the circle of larger thought. This was the key-note of 
this Mother-evening suggested by Samuel (Coleridge) to me, 
my boy. 

" Now, I will give the Mother-prayer which in the silence 
of this higher life, the agents of the divine, sang to my soul. 

" To Mothers everywhere : 

" I kiss the heart of the maternal, and say to the God of all, 
it is all in all to be a mother. On the mountain top just as the 
day breaks, one sees the heavens lighted from angel eyes, but 
this is not nearly as sublime as the light in the eye of a mother 
for her child. So to the Being of all I send the spirit of thank- 
ful women. It is the highest station in life to be the valley 
through which crept one of the souls of men. This is the 
function of the mother. Mothers are humble through pain, 
worry, and the misery of anticipation of the long waiting, and 
often then, the ideal crashed to pieces at the base of the cliff 
of earth-life, but God said it is well, so I, in the mothers 
prayer, simply say, as Jesus did, ' Thy will be done/ " 

After Coleridge had dictated the dedicatory note 
found on the fly-leaf of this volume, Mother continued 
the conversation: — 

June 7 — Mother 
The evening opened with the following words from 
Mother: 

83 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

" My boy Albert, again I come to you. O Son, be in my 
spirit. This is your true dwelling place. I am glad when I 
see your faith. Dora this day said to me this : ? It is not so 
wonderful that the communications have come through, as is 
the slight amount of error which has occurred all through/ 

" I am to you, O Son, the same dear Mother of other days, 
and you in a sense will always be to me a boy. 

" Now, my boy, I just lay (my) astral head on your bosom. 
I am always with you. Your father too. We often see the 
home you are coming to. We call it Albert's place. You see 
how near I am to you. . . . 

" Dora wants you to be sure to get description of homes here 
into the book. . . . 

" We are preparing to receive thousands from the earth 
plane, and we are resolved to give our best to these souls just 
arrived." 

I trust the reader will receive these messages of 
love which came to me, as if they had come to himself 
out of the beautiful silences and been welcomed to 
his own heart. Apart from the consideration of their 
authenticity, he will thus be most likely to give to 
them their proper value as evidence, and welcome 
them as agencies of love that lives somewhere, and 
offers itself in gladness to his human heart. 



?4 



" I am anchored here like the ships of Drake." 

" I will be a silent listener in the house of the immensities 

of my God." 

— Shakespeare. 

" Edith Cavell, when she came here, and wakened amid the 
flowers and trees of this plane, was perhaps the most wonder- 
ful vision of beauty in repose that we have ever seen. Dora 
is a wild pagan of glory. Mary is the quiet beauty of thought. 
Edith is the sleeping beauty of time." 

— Shelley. 



86 



CHARACTERISTICS OF PERSONAGES 

Here, if anywhere, should be evidence of genuine 
and authentic communication. Personalities known 
to all educated people, because of their almost unique 
qualities of mind and heart and manner, could not 
put their thoughts and feelings into language for 
hours while they discoursed on Philosophy, Science, 
Religion, Art, Music, the Stage, Literature, Poetry, 
Sculpture, and Politics, without revealing their spe- 
cial modes of thought, style of address, traits, predi- 
lections, and the peculiar atmosphere and colour of 
their individualities, at least to an appreciable degree. 

Of all our ethereal guests, none was more pictur- 
esque than the Roycroft sage, The Fra, Elbert Hub- 
bard. His boundless vocabulary, native wit, range 
of knowledge, graphic style, and — I trust he will 
pardon me — lack of historic accuracy in any scrupu- 
lous degree, make him especially valuable as a subject 
tin the study in which we are engaged. We trust, 
therefore, that the reader is acquainted with the won- 
derful brilliancy of his earlier articles in The Philis- 
tine, such as The Message to Garcia, and also with 
his Little Journeys, which are probably his best 
writings. 

If the glory of The White Hyacinth faded some- 
what in the searching light of the Twentieth Plane, 
we may be glad of the riches that came to him in the 

87 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

many new friendships of great and noble people. 
Hubbard calls himself " the war expert," and none 
other, save the great heart of Lincoln and the war- 
brain of Kitchener, dares to trespass on that field. 
He omits no opportunity of predicting the early 
close of the war. We can forgive this, even though 
it prove a will-o'-the-wisp. All the members of 
Mother's Group agreed in this prediction. The 
reader will have better opportunity to judge of the 
correctness of this than the present time affords. 
Most events predicted do take place, though some- 
times there is delay in fulfilment. Having no sym- 
pathy in most cases with the practise of predicting 
isolated events, I have not included many such mat- 
ters. All, however, who have spoken about the war 
throughout these investigations have seemed to be 
sure that while the peace negotiations and the read- 
justments would be late and tedious, the really great 
field slaughter consequent upon the tremendous 
offensives of the opposing armies would culminate 
before the end of the present year, 1918. 

The fact that so many people expect death to put 
them into possession of all knowledge makes it neces- 
sary to point out that the failure of a prophecy is no 
evidence that the communication is unauthentic. 
Death makes no one omniscient. If the predictions 
were all fulfilled to the day and the letter, the fact 
would be a suspicious one and not an evidence of 
authenticity. 

88 



CHARACTERISTICS OF PERSONAGES 

January 2J — Hubbard 

How do you know the war will end in six months ? 

11 Clouds clearing now." 

Which side will be victorious? 

" Neither." (This was explained later when Hubbard said 
that Germany would defeat herself.) 

Is this war going to clean up civilization? 

" Yes." 

In what way? 

" Chiefly by the abolition of competition." 

Will there be a house representing all the nations ? 

" Yes. It is in the brain of Wilson now." 

What matters will this house deal with? 

"All big principles." 

Have you lectured on the other plane? 

" Yes. On what a fool I was." 

What other lectures have you delivered? 

" On ' The Wise Man I Am/ " 

I suppose startling revelations sometimes come to those ar- 
riving on that plane. 

" Yes. I danced the Can Can when I came here." 

Do you mean that you were angry? 

" No. I had joy-bugs. I am the Fra. 

" I have met Kitchener." 

Is there any question as to his being dead? 

" Nix." 

February 10 — Hubbard 
Is Hubbard here? 

" Yes. In fear and trembling, Pashas." (Laughter.) 
You make us laugh, Hubbard, with your old-time remarks. 
" Yes, but laughter is better than milk." 
You said two weeks ago that the war will end in six months. 
Are you sure of this ? 

89 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

"Yes. P-o-s-i-t-i-v-e ! " (The indicator was emphatic.) 

What will bring it to an end ? 

" I will be serious now. The prayers and tears of mothers/' 
Will the allies win? 

" Revolution will allow Germany to defeat herself." 
What will happen the Kaiser ? 
" Death by assassination." 
When? 

" Do not know exactly, but in this year." 
(Some were thirsty and water was brought in.) 
Will you have a drink ? 

" I left a glass of grape- wine, and then the torpedo struck us." 
Are there any planes below the earth-plane ? 
" The earth-plane is the fifth." 
Are there any wars on the astral plane ? 
" Yes, in lack of harmony, but no bloodshed." 
But even you were peeved the last evening. 
" I am serious now, Sir Watson." 
How can a thought projection do a physical act? 
" Thoughts are things and realities." 

Is a thought vibration reduced in frequency so as to be 
effective on a lower plane? 
" Nearly so." 

" One must not underestimate the potential capabilities of 
the soul of one who is not a genius. There is no such thing as 
class distinction among the souls of the children of God." 

" I met Louis in the physical. I wrote A. D. a letter re his 
book." (These were facts.) 

Can you give the date of letter? (Question by another.) 

" Cannot remember date nor year nor century. He is 
squelched ! " 

(The letter was received in 1908.) 

90 



CHARACTERISTICS OF PERSONAGES 

April 28 — Hubbard 
" Say my pal of pals, in the silence of this vale of voice, 
tell me to tell you that non compos mentis is the word to apply 
to one who with a shrug of the shoulder, a wink of the eye, 
a snap of the jaw, settles the finalities of all worlds, the prob- 
lems that are debatable on all planes. 

" You said, Mr. Instrument, you would not like to put that 
in the book, but Louinski, look here, I knew on earth those in 
pigskin, human skin, morocco, gold engraved, who came not 
here though they were in the richest binding of the bookman's 
art." 

February 18 — Hubbard 

Have you anything to say as to the war situation now, 
Hubbard? 

" Yes. There will be a great naval battle in the very near 
future." 

Will it be of great significance? 

" Very, very ! It will help smash things all to pieces, and 
the revolution in Germany will immediately follow. Then the 
glorious end." 

What nations will engage in the naval battle? 

" England, and the U. S. versus Germany." 

Where will naval battle take place? 

" No one knows yet." 

The highest naval authority asserts positively that 
the German fleet was ordered to attack, but refused 
to obey. 

• • « « 

Is Germany likely to remain a monarchy after the war? 
" Yes, for a short time. Say ten years." 

91 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

Under Hohenzollern rule ? 

" Yes ; they will explain it for a time." 

Although Hubbard claims that he sees causes set 
in motion and therefore knows far better than we 
what is likely to be the future course of the war, I 
confess that my habitually skeptical habit compels 
me to regard the foregoing as merely Hubbard's 
opinion at the time. I noticed two or three days ago 
that the German fleet was active, and yesterday the 
British were reported as exploring the Cattegat. 
Nevertheless I have little confidence in any one's pre- 
diction, but this does not bear upon the authenticity 
of the message, if it is like Hubbard to have such an 
opinion and to be cock-sure he is right. 

February 24 — Hubbard — West Toronto 

Is Hubbard here? (Question by another.) 

" I am here, old college chum." 

It is a long time since I read any of your work. 

" But you did read the Philistine and drink coca cola at the 
same time." 

You were going to be an M. D. 

" I studied bones." 

That was about as far as you got? 

" Yep. To the wood-pile when the sun rises is a health 
receipt of mine." 

But I have no wood-pile. What should I do ? 

" Metaphor, my boy ; but clean the spark-plugs of your be- 
ing; eat good gasoline; accelerate your thought; clean the 
carbon from your cylinders, and then throw out your chest. 
You now say gasoline ; we used to say benzine — ' benzine 

92 



CHARACTERISTICS OF PERSONAGES 

buggies/ to be exact. I am endeavouring to prove my actuality 
by old earth characteristics." 

Have you met Ehrlich over there and was he associated with 
Hata? 

" Yes, the little Jap. Yes, he was." 

Which was the bigger ? 

11 Scientists go to plane fifteen. Hata was a great assistance 
to Ehrlich, but only that. MetchnikofT will speak now." 

The dialogue continued on sources of contamination 
in the various organs of the body and treatment of 
conditions resulting. Then Koch purported to speak 
re Friedmann and his " turtle serum." Koch said 
Friedmann was a German spy, discussed bacteriology 
and predicted that a serum would be discovered within 
two years for the cure of Tuberculosis. The dis- 
coverer would be Car. . . not very sure of the 
name. He also spoke of wound irrigation. Jenner, 
of vaccination fame, also spoke. Then MetchnikofT 
returned speaking as follows: — 

February 24 — Metchnikoff 

" Have you ever thought of the polarity of the human body ?" 

In what way? 

" In sleep, for instance." 

Only vaguely. 

" Shall I give you a law ? " 

Yes. By all means. 

" Well then, always sleep with head to north. Currents run 
around the earth from north to south. See the point? East 
to west is very bad. Why? Conflict with earth field of 
magnetism." 

93 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

March 5 — Hubbard 
What is the greatest inspiration that a writer can have ? 
" To fondle a subject as a mother does her child." 
Where did you get such a vocabulary ? 
" Where did you get it? Kicked into me by hard jolts." 
You could not kick it into some people. 
" No, but I had some brains." 

Hubbard's war reports are sometimes spicy and 
picturesque, at least to a friend of the Allies. 

April 13 — Hubbard 

" Foch is a genius guided by the spirit of Kitchener. We 
mean this literally." 

What plane is Kitchener on ? 

" Twentieth — ten and ten. An administrator and statesman 
is Kitchener." 

I understand then that Grant and Sherman were not in the 
same class with Lincoln and Kitchener? 

" Kitchener was something of an idealist. In Egypt he 
showed that. A certain water system on the Nile is an 
example." 

Can you tell me anything about Lincoln and the Trent affair ? 

" Yes ; he advised against war with England, but Nicolay and 
Hay give it all." * 

You do not know ? 

" No. My present task is war. Don't get this fish out of 
his element." 

We might easily proceed with the Fra to a great 
length, in view of the abundance of material to which 

1 While Nicolay and Hay give important original letters, Brown's 
account is even more illuminating. — A. D. W. 

94 



CHARACTERISTICS OF PERSONAGES 

we have recourse, but as we shall have to consider 
some others in this chapter, we must pass to them 
at once. 

March 17 — Whitman 

I want you to know, if you have not long known, our friends 
Henry and Helen Saunders. 

" I know them. God bless them ! " 

You know the work Henry Saunders is doing? 

" Yes. It is good. I love to remember that they are living 
in the spirit of my teaching: ' I will have nothing my brother 
cannot have on the same terms/ " 

Do you approve of the publication of your earlier work? 

" No." (With great force.) 

Why? 

" My best work was the last." 

Do you value any one of your poems more than the others ? 

" Yes. On Lincoln." 

You mean the group ? 

* Yes. Specially the lilac poem." 

Do you like " Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking"? 

" Yes." 

Was it inspired by your life story? 

" Yes. My life story." 

"What a solemn tread I had when on earth as I walked 
a-down the corridors of that too-short time on the fifth plane, 
but, my God, I set echoes of truth flying which will resound 
to the end of time. Good-bye ! " 

Ten minutes which he had allowed himself at the 
beginning of this dialogue had exactly expired. 

95 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

Whitman was in evidence again on May 5 when the 
following colloquy ensued: — 

May 5 — Whitman 

" Now, here I come bouncing in. ... I will give a test 
to those who know my works as a juggler knows the balls. 

" I wrote a line on the grass, and it is my greatest. Can the 
wiseacres tell me the rest ? " 

One suggested the line : 

" 'A leaf of grass is the journey-work of heaven, The hand- 
kerchief of the Lord/ 

" No. No. No. But tell me the line I would build a 
monument to. It is: 

" * Grass is the uncut hair of graves/ 



" This glorification of departed heroes is rank in the odour 
of my life. . . . The reason of five hundred miles between 
you and me is, we practise humility, you should, but you forget 
to do so." 

How shall we develop our humility ? 

" By being as a little child, eager, alert, alive in faith, clothed 
in mother-love, and all around, the sky of reason." 

Do you not think that monuments to heroes are inspiring to 
children and young people to make their lives heroic ? 

" If children will have toys, give them to them. ... I 
am here as high as Captain, my Captain. The style there was 
>best. Great thought should have the garments of nature, not 
of fanaticism. . . . Now I leave, but get this in your 
consciousness: The thunders of thought shake the heavens in 
proportion as the thoughts are intense, concentrated. Be free, 
noble, serene. Meet all situatiors as Bryant, in Thanatopsis, 
stated one should meet their end." 

9 6 



CHARACTERISTICS OF PERSONAGES 

Is it possible to have a heart conviction inconsistent 
with one's intellectual conclusion, or does a feeling 
intense and enthusiastic prove that all contrary in- 
tellectual positions are not conclusive? This question 
is inspired by the report which I am about to give of a 
most astonishing experience. The story emerges in 
the following text of the dialogue: 

April 29 — Shelley — Shakespeare 

Have you seen Mother lately? 

" She is here as quiet, serene, and noble as the soul of Joan 
of Arc. O God, how we love this woman. She is, indeed, a 
being worthy to dwell in the house of the Master. Shall I tell 
you of our Master here? 

" He came here by desire from the plane of the Jesus group 
only a day ago; will ascend on the seventh day. He is he 
whose soul reflects all the emotions, knowledge, light, char- 
acter, of a being who had a thousand inspirations. His name 
is Will Shakespeare." 

Do I understand that Shakespeare has descended to your 
plane for seven days? 

"And will speak if you read a few lines of his." 

(A passage was hastily selected and read from Henry V.) 

"May I trespass on your bourne? The angle of your 
thought to me incline." 

We are greatly exalted by the thought of your presence. 

" I stand here, one honoured beyond his poor measure of 
deservation, but I come to thee as a brother; this is the mar- 
riage of true souls. We meet, part, linger in absence's cruel 
cave. As the dawn lights up the heavens, we meet, our paths 
cross, we are again in the family circle. I would that I could 
give now an inspiring message." 

97 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

Did Bacon assist you in writing the great dramas ? 

" Only as the mentor does the scholar, in a scholastic way." 

The " scholar-girl " referred to on page 48 suggested here : 

"Ask him the great question about Hamlet." Before I had 
time to do so he replied : 

" Hamlet was not insane. He was as lucid as the personifi- 
cation of all the truth in life." 

Was he a true lover of Ophelia? 

" The birds know that." 

Why did Hamlet delay the execution of his commission ? 

" I will answer in the globe of the consciousness of this boy 
as I run down the ladder of his intelligence." 

" Now, as I said, to be or not to be is the question : Shall I 
get myself gone, or linger? " 

Do you know anything of Canadian drama? 

" ' Tecumseh ' has great merit in it." 

Is there a future for Canadian drama ? 

" You see, I hardly know your plane." 

Did you write Pericles? 

" Marlowe was the author." 

Are any other plays not yours ? 

" No. And I will tell of the lady of the sonnets, too. . . . 
Not Ann Hathaway. . . . They were written to an ideal." 

It has been suggested that your sonnets were intended to 
set forth the higher consciousness. 

"And they were." 

Before you speak through Louis' lips, I would like to ask 
that Lincoln should come, but I trust you will stay as long as 
you can. 

" I am anchored here like the ships of Drake." 

What was your mission to the Twentieth Plane ? 

" To lecture on the art of words." 

Do you lecture to the other planes ? 

98 



CHARACTERISTICS OF PERSONAGES 

"And once more, do not be stunned by this observation of 
one of the storm-centres of history, — I gave a trance oration 

through the lips of a man you know. His name is E 

H G ." 

"And now, do you not see by the simple nature of my talk 
how easily conviction of truth registers itself on the intelli- 
gence of a man, spelt in letters of light ? " 

Shall we have the great joy of hearing you again? 

" It is with infinite regret I say the word, no. I will meet 
you as your vessel comes to these shores. I can get here, but 
earth has no attractions for me. I came this evening because 
of your mother's prayer. 

" Now I will, as the chariots of desire convey me hence, say 
farewell." 

Same Evening — Mother 

" Mother is here, my boy. O Albert, the joy of speaking 
with Shakespeare will be to me always the love of times of 
love." 

Did you speak to him face to face ? 

" Yes ; as I often did with you." 

Does he look younger than his pictures? 

"As Lincoln looked when Ann Rutledge said ' I love you.'" 

I leave the reader to appraise for himself the value 
of these astounding answers. 

At the close of this dialogue, Shakespeare pur- 
ported to speak in trance-address. No stenographer 
was present. It is obvious, therefore, that we did 
not expect Shakespeare. From such notes as I was 
able to take in the few moments while he was speak- 
ing, I may say that he greeted us as 

" Servants of Love, and a part of all things that are." 

99 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

The following are some of the phrases or clauses 
which I am sure of: — 

" In speaking of Hamlet in my play, I speak of myself. 

" Emerson grasped the truth : ' The only interpreter of 
Shakespeare is Shakespeare/ . . . 

" Hamlet had the fine feeling of a woman. . . . 

" He was moved more by internal feelings than by his 
environment. . . . 

" Hamlet was as insane as the frenzy of the winds blowing 
into the mouth of a cave. . . . 

" He was as sane as a babe. . . ." 

" Ophelia was to me a beautiful dream. . . . 

" I showed her lingering soft loveliness. . . . 

" I depicted her bereft of reason as she sang the jangled 
notes of an insane song. . . . 

" It is joy to me to greet you while the silvery bells ring in 
yonder tower of the Twentieth Plane. . . . 

" I drew smiles of women from the rainbows. . . . 
" The mystic chords of friendship reach from my heart to 
yours in a marriage of influences. . . . 
" Think often of me. Good-bye." 

It would be most unfair to contrast these snatches 
of thought with the sublimest of Shakespeare's 
dramatic work. We do not put our best literature 
into cablegrams, much less into psychograms ill-re- 
ported. What is true here is measurably true of all 
the great ones who have spoken. 

It would be quite gratuitous for me to point to the 
evidences in this report. The reader, if he is in- 

ioo 



CHARACTERISTICS OF PERSONAGES 

terested in this aspect of the dialogues, will be quite as 
expert as I am in such work, and if he should miss 
these evidences, either affirmative or negative, I am 
sure that his mind is of such a quality that it does not 
matter at all. I am sorry though that every reader 
could not have been present at the meeting reported 
here in part, or in that which is reported more fully 
in " Poetry." The atmosphere may bewilder the in- 
tellect by its exaltation, but it certainly makes for con- 
viction, and this matters, to some, more, even, than 
the intellectual certitude, which to others is far more 
desirable. There is no question as to the uplift that 
came into the lives of those who habitually attended 
these circles of research. One of these said to me a 
week after our first circle met: " I began to live only 
last Sunday evening." Her enthusiasm, if it is right 
so to name it, has not ebbed since. 

Here is a little touch of Dora which will be more 
intimate than the mightier moods of the Bard of 
Avon : — 

June 7 — Dorothy 

" Float now in my canoe of happiness. Forget dull care and 
imagine Dora and you on the bosom of a river, beneath stars 
of love talking of things told only sometimes in one's heart." 

What shall we name the river, Dora? 

" The Dorian stream." 

Isaac Pitman was introduced by my father-in-law, 
(Samuel Clare,) himself a stenographer and spelling 

IOI 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

reformer for many years, and a correspondent, when 
on earth plane, with the great stenographer. Pit- 
man spoke as follows: — 

April 75 — Isaac Pitman 

"All is well in heaven and earth. The convulsion on your 
plane will subside like the melting of snow in spring. The 
end of a winter of hell will vanish, so we of this higher life 
rejoice with you. 

" I would love to show my actuality. Can the Doctor sug- 
gest a way ? " 

Could you tell us anything of your shorthand system ? 

" Based on the sound of words, reduced to simple symbols." 

How did you express vowel sounds ? 

" By constants." 

We have space in this chapter for only a few of 
the hundred or more personalities of world-wide fame, 
who have conversed with us in these researches. These 
are chosen, not only because they are characteristic, 
but in some cases because they did not very well fit 
into any other chapter. 

It should be remembered, in making any estimate 
of the evidence afforded by these characters, that they 
speak to us in free converse, in most cases without 
premeditation, or effort to be sublime, or to show their 
highest achievement. The difficulties involved in 
breaking from one sphere into another in this way, and 
especially in reaching the earth plane people from so 
high a plane as the Twentieth, and that for the first 
time, cannot be realized. 

102 



CHARACTERISTICS OF PERSONAGES 

That Hubbard and others are associated with 
Shakespeare in this study is not a subject for apology. 
They all had tremendous personal characteristics, 
and these serve a purpose. The question is, are these 
the words of Hubbard, Shakespeare, etc., or are they 
the words emanating by some inexplicable method 
from some inexplicable source? 

I present these conversations in obedience to the 
request of those of the Twentieth Plane, not only 
because they request it, but also because it seemed 
good to me to do so. I am not one of those who 
think it is bad form to discuss the land to which I 
expect to go. Even though that land may be to some 
of us an interrogation point, it still is a very active 
interrogation, and only those bound for some valley 
of burning chaff because of their materialism, their 
sensuality, their money-lust, or their selfishness in 
some other form, are indifferent as to the answer to 
the question. 

But I am not a preacher. I am a reporter. 



103 



" Truth is a broom that can hold back the ocean." 

— Voltaire. 

" Land of the tricolour, the lily, and French valour, I often 
come again in sight of Paris and see France risen again from 
the phoenix-ashes of war, to the strains of The Marseillaise, 
marching out of the mist of tears to light." 

— Victor Hugo. 



104 



LITERATURE— PROSE 

There are some matters which can be used ap- 
propriately only in a chapter on Literature. I have 
the sanction of the Publication Committee for the 
inclusion of such a chapter. Many things have helped 
to determine what shall be included in the various 
sections. No foresight could have predicted just 
what would flnallv be elicited from the conversations, 
that was eligible for publication. I am withholding 
nothing but personal matters, but some things are 
implied in what is published, which were repeated in 
answer to questions suggested by new visitors to our 
circle. Other chapters are sufficiently long for bal- 
anced unity, hence this new one. 

Among the great ones who spoke to us, none were 
more impressive than three great Frenchmen. These 
were Victor Hugo, Hippolyte Taine, and Voltaire. 
If the premier place is given here to France, few will 
demur. The reader will better understand the im- 
portant nature of the evidence involved in the dia- 
logues of these men if I say that what I know of 
French literature is so slight that I am somewhat 
ashamed of it. That I had to confess that I had not 
read Zadig, Ninety-three, and many other great 
writings of these literary giants, is rather a raw treat- 
ment of my pride, but it is necessary. Facts are facts 
and being only instruments and evidences, they must 

105 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

serve their great master, the Truth, without demur, 
no matter whose pride is wounded. 

On June 9th, Dorothy Wordsworth had said in 
the beginning of our circle meeting that she would 
brighten me up for the evening in ten minutes. I 
was much in need of sleep that evening and she per- 
ceived it in my aura. I timed her and she proceeded 
with banter, repartee, and brightness of wit and 
humour, to keep her promise. She succeeded so 
effectively that in seven minutes I was all alert. We 
shall proceed with the dialogue: — 

June 9 — Dorothy 

" Well now, you have a toned-up aura, and only the seven 
minutes are up." 

(I confirmed this by reference to my watch.) 

" See, I was in your vest pocket, near your heart. 

" Now, I want to introduce to you one who has been called 
on this plane, the Hercules of Thought: Victor Hugo. He 
wants, before speaking now, to have you test him in any really 
evidential way, re his novels, life, or present work." 

June p — Victor Hugo 

What was the title of one of your novels, Hugo, in which 
you presented a scene in a cathedral tower ? 

" Notre Dame. You see, I am the French exile — for I love 
to think even yet of Guernsey Isle. 1 I am here to throw you 
the rapier-like majesty of great eternal thinking." 

Did you correspond with Bismarck? 

" Yes ; often. But we were the antipodal poles." 

1 None of us were aware at the time of Hugo's exile there. 

106 



LITERATURE— PROSE 

Do you remember writing to him once, as follows : " The 
giant greets the giant, the foe the foe, the friend the friend, 
etc. ? " 

" Sounds like my style, but I forget really. Now that dishes 
the proof. Eh? 

" Did you ever read my ' Ninety-three '? " 

No. 

" In it is a wonderful description of a storm at sea. Look 
it up some time. I mention it because one who wishes to be- 
come conversant with the ideographic picture style of writing 
should study it." 

I knew nothing of the passage. None in the circle 
did. We found it immediately. Here it is : — 

" The corvette was now nothing but a wreck. In the pale, 
scattered light, in the blackness of the clouds, in the confused 
shifting of the horizon, in the mysterious wrinkling of the 
waves, there was a sepulchral solemnity. Except the hostile 
whistling of the wind, everything was silent. The catastrophe 
was rising majestically from the depths. It seemed more like 
an apparition than an attack. Nothing moved on the rocks, 
nothing stirred on the ships. It was a strange, colossal silence. 
Were they dealing with reality ? It was like a dream passing 
over the sea. In legends there are such visions : the corvette 
was, in a certain sense, between a demon reef and a phantom 
fleet." 

The foregoing is to be found in the chapter entitled 
9 — 380, on page 41 of the Valjean edition of Hugo's 
Works, Volume VIII. Hugo proceeded to ask if I 
was aware that he had once made a speech in connec- 
tion with the trial of his son for libel, in which the 

107 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

theme was " capital punishment." I then asked the 
question: — 

June p — Hugo 

What is the highest purpose in literature? 

" To reveal to view truth not touched to life, but latent in 
the soul." 

Is not all Art but a varied manifestation of the divine? 

" Certainly. The artist but translates it into the language of 
prose or poetry." 

Who is the greatest French dramatist? 

" Moliere, and Corneille. In poetry, Racine is very great. 
Not so high as a dramatist. In prose, Balzac and Dumas are 
great men." 

How about LeSage? 

" He tried with dabs to write. See ? " 

Next to yourself, who is the greatest French poet? 

" I am next to another. Put it that way. I rank all the 
French school as greater than myself." 

Who is the greatest ? 

" I do not care to say. Not now. Some others are here." 

" Once I came to the vision screen to see your group. You 
and all in your room now were as faithful as Hebrews in their 
temple, but two I could name were like the mist of a jungle." 

Should we not be great enough to overcome the evil in- 
fluences emanating from such personalities? 

" You were, hence I came to-night." 

" Land of the tricolour, the lily, and French valour, I often 
come again in sight of Paris and see France rise from the 
phoenix-ashes of war to the strains of the Marseillaise, march- 
ing out of the mist of tears to light." 

Do you remember the French Revolution? 

" Thomas is here. He has written in his French Revolution, 
the sum and substance of that epic time. That book is the soul 

108 



LITERATURE— PROSE 

of those drama-moments of history, and will supply the details. 
I will say this, however, that book should be viewed as a his- 
torical impress of action rather than as the work of an earth 
historian." 

Carlyle was essentially a poet, was he not? 

11 What does essential poet mean? One who in the guise of 
rhythm, harmony, and beautiful words, spells in literature, 
some lovely nothing? Oh, no; the poet is not Southey, Moore, 
or the minor imitators of Shellian grandeur. . . . 

" No ; you are right ; so was I. Our thoughts join hands and 
sing onward to the ideal. 

" For the sake of your mother, I appeal to you in the name 
of the group here, in the old Hugo style; sending to you the 
best of me, and you responding in kind; two souls in soul- 
converse; now, in the name of your mother, vow before the 
faith I repose in you that you will see this truth given to the 
world. We all now wait to hear your vow." 

I am steadily anchored to such a purpose. 

" We want, for your sake, a more definite statement. This 
is not a mere request. Great forces are surging to come to 
you when this vow is taken." 

The book shall be published. I cannot make a statement 
of mine stronger. 

" Strength of purpose lit up your aura when you said * shall/ 
Now the forces will aid you. For, mark you, this should be 
told : some occult forces are at work to suppress this book. I 
was chosen by the group here to impress this news, because I 
am so definite in my statement, and was and am now a moun- 
tain of intensity. As much of the revelations came through 
the lower planes — I mean the sixth, seventh, and eighth, occult 
forces were gathered to resist a lower plane revelation of 
Plane Twenty? This was because of jealousy and sin. We 
reveal this to you to show that not only is opposition to be 
expected on the fifth plane but the low ones on other planes 

109 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

must also be combatted. You would be astounded at the 
sacred force used by us to be ourselves to you. Now, I have 
given my warning, and the whole group are on their knees at 
the display of your great faith. I bid you an affectionate 
adieu. I will come often as I have many things to tell you." 

June p — Dorothy 

" Listen ! on the Plane, we whisper : ' He is not Shakespeare 
but as big/ 

" I want to introduce now, Taine. He wants to speak on 
any question on the art side of literature." 

June 9 — Taine 

" I speak as one who came here on the wings of great 
splendours of vision caught on prose pages on earth; so one 
can walk that path to the Twentieth Plane." 

What is the highest aim of the art of literature? 

" The building to reality of the subject in hand. The writer 
gets through inspiration the skeleton of his theme. Now, if 
he is a great writer, he dove-tails together exactly those bricks 
of fact which the nature of truth requires to be perfectly 
clothed in, in order to express the inspiration as no other 
details could. 

" I used to employ this method in my essays, for I was 
greatest as an essayist. I loved to start with short sentences 
which would catch the interest, then I would troop out some 
longer ones, then still longer ones, broken up into ranks of 
close formation, marching in regular order to the music of 
truth, as the bugles of inspiration blew notes of thought 
through the ether of my mind." 

I regard that as an excellent method. 

" It was my plan, and I was hit so hard with it that I never 
recovered." 

Did you not write history? 

no 



LITERATURE— PROSE 

"A little only. Never any extended work. But this is of 
value in weighing on the scales of your mind my true estimate. 
I used what Macaulay, and — in oratory — Ingersoll, used and 
which I called once the balanced sentence." 

Was not that an analogue of the parallelism of the Hebrew 
prophets and poets? 

" I could not state the idea so well myself. But we always 
have two purposes in this work, to convey to you authenticity, 
and to be ourselves. Now, could any deep-sea fishing scoop 
out of the sea of your consciousness this conversation re 
balanced style ? " 

Certainly not. That would be a foolish theory. 

" One subtle thing re Macaulay and all who use the balanced- 
sentence style is the fact that they, through deep thinking, 
reached the chamber of inspiration whence always flows, 
through expressed thought, rhythm and harmony. Thus, all 
prophetic and great writing is eloquent as it marches to its 
higher sanctuary in close harmony with the songs of the poets. 

" Now, in the work of earth, I suggest that, as R. L. Steven- 
son suggested to you, one stanza shall be a floating cloud of 
truth, so softly pure in style that one pillows his soul against it 
and becomes inspired as he rests on the bosom of beauty." 

" I had very little to say this evening because Voltaire is 
here, and he is the very nerve centre of knowledge. Even now 
he pants in haste to greet you. He will be found very extreme 
in his views, but control him. Ask all in the room to lend 
him their rapt attention." 

June 9 — Voltaire 
" Princes and princesses : I come to seek out what ye be. I 
may be scornful, but even if I be severe, words of fire quench 
to love in the purpose of my coming. 
" I had a sharp nose, and walked on earth with a stilted step. 

Ill 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

I hated shams, affectation, and wrong in church and state. 
. . . I saw it all and my physical body grew hideous in the 
scorn I poured on this rank, stinking fabric of my earth-day 
society. 

" I want to say even now, I would crush all churches, all 
governments, all material laws, burn up everything on the fifth 
plane but books, wash all into the ocean, let such slum dissolve 
there, and pray God to build a new world. Oh, yes, radical 
and extreme, going off at a tangent, but who cares, truth is a 
broom which can hold back the ocean. 

" I would say, as you once said — now see the insight we have 
into things said that are really big — You cannot program God, 
but you can carry out God's program. I would say that it is 
God's program to destroy all things that cannot endure the 
winds of time. 

" Once I saw one denied burial because he sinned and never 
partook of the sacrament, the holy wafer of the church. I 
vowed then to hit the church between the eyes, and even now, 
I go to the valley to get balanced when I think of the church. 

" Now I want to tell of a work none of you knows. It is as 
if lightning wrote a story of herself ; told what she said when 
flashing, and occasionally hit the steeple of a church. The 
tale is Zadig" 

Has it been translated into English ? 

" Yes." 

Whose translation? 

" Burney's." 

Can you remember any of your experiences with Frederick 
of Prussia? 

" Once I said to him, ' that cane of yours keeps perfect step 
with a damn fool/ 

" Once I said to him, * You remind me of a wine barrel. I 
think I will put in you a spigot/ " 

But, Voltaire, I thought Frederick was thin. 

112 



LITERATURE— PROSE 

" Wine is thin sometimes, too. Whisper it in cannon-voice. 
Once I said to him, ' In cheese-making, the odour must have 
been caught from you/ ' Scandalous ! ' they said here, so I 
see a journey to the valley. Shall I abscond or keep up this 
wit ? Look here, a monarch looks to me, especially Frederick 
of Prussia, like one who walks a tight rope, and some day com- 
mon sense will cut that rope." 

How soon will that be? 

"As soon as churches fall." 

Frederick cut up the provinces of Maria Theresa pretty 
badly. 

"And Maria Theresa gave Frederick many a nightmare. 

" Once the old king said to me, ' This king-business is on the 
wane. Now what do you suggest, Dear, as a stimulant to the 
body politic.' 

" I said, * Get some acid of quick demise ; this will cause 
some cheering. The people will rejoice; I will send flowers 
and even cry for you/ 

" He said once about me, ' Vol is volling some more, but he 
is a rascal. I have to treat him well or he will caricature me 
to infinite ages/ I had him scared. I had him all a-tremble, 
so I never heard a mean word about me. Once he thought he 
said something, but withdrew it." 

He called you a thief. 

" I agreed. I stole his brains, but lost them before I got 
them." 

May 28 — Stevenson 
" I am sitting here, in an astral nook, and will think with 
you, so let us be brothers together in this work." 
How do you proceed with a story? 

" First, the subject should be capable of being made a living 
reality. It then became a passion of my life, to live with that 
subject by day, to go to rest with it by night. I became in 

113 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

turn every character I wrote about, and essentially, was that 
personality ; so much so that often I could see in a mirror the 
perfect countenance of the character. If it was a Dr. Jekyll, 
I was the medical man ; or a Mr. Hyde, I was all that a Hyde 
should be. This is my rule in writing a novel; I surrender 
myself, body and soul, to the creation of a work compounded 
of thought and inspiration, keeping these qualities always in 
mind: be natural, be true to life, be dramatic, use simple lan- 
guage as the vesture in which great thought always robes 
itself." 

Do you remember Merrimae? 

" He was one, I believe, who wrote sea stories." 

Yes. He wrote a couple, I believe. (Not my question or 
reply.) 

What is your estimate of George Meredith? 

" His The Egoist was the greatest of his works." 

He is not much read, I believe. 

" No. But purity, finish and even a certain amount of 
classicism make a strong appeal." 

What group are you in? 

" In the Brahmin group. Matthew and Edwin Arnold are 
in same." 

" Did you ever read my essay on Pepys' Diary? It is the 
least known of my works. Also I wrote an essay on a French 
character called Villon. Look it up. I want to be of help 
to you. 

" May I point out a characteristic thing which will always 
be in evidence when we from this plane try to give some in- 
tellectual matter or detail by which to know us ; it is this : We 
never ask one in the room re any of our earth works, unless 
by searching your auras, we are certain you do not know the 
work in question. Else you would simply fall back on the 
idea (that) we saw it in your mind, but we rarely if ever make 
a mistake with such a method." 

114 



LITERATURE— PROSE 

Will you talk on poetry a while ? 

" Well, I was a minor poet, but I think in your case this 
might help: People rarely remember a poem in its entirety, 
hence you will see that from Chaucer to Tennyson, the poetical 
quotations are limited in form. The detached portions, which 
are after all the mountain heights of poetry that have influenced 
the people en masse, are things taken from the life of the 
people themselves, passed through the mint of the poet's mind, 
and become the coin of the thinking, feeling people. 

" Now I would advise you to make one verse always in 
every poem a thing of beauty, truth and inspiration, to become 
the national coin of educated, thinking people in the poetical 
sense. 

" The writer who sincerely desires the simple things in nature 
to be transmitted through him into literary form is really living 
in his personality, a prayer to elemental things, and the answer 
to that prayer is the realization cosmically of things elemental. 

" I want to ask about a phenomenon which I believe no 
earth-thinker has attacked as yet, but to us it is of extraor- 
dinary interest, and even formed the topic of an address heard 
here in the Hall of Learning. Shelley, Keats, Byron, and 
nearly all the greatest poets died of some malady which ter- 
minated their physical lives at an early age." 

Of course Shelley was drowned, and I forget what was the 
cause of Byron's death. 

" Byron died of fever in Greece, but because of burned-out 
constitution, and I died of T. B." 

Have you any theory to explain these facts ? 

" No. But the greatest poets and thinkers, with hardly an 
exception, burnt out because of lack of self-control. ,, 

March 15 — Wordsworth — Coleridge 

" Coleridge wants to know if any here have read his lines 
on the Ottery?" 

115 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

(Three poets were present on this occasion which 
was in the afternoon. One of them asked:) 

What does it mean ? 

" William wants to prove the authenticity of this form of 
communication, so get Coleridge's poems now and look it up." 

( None of us knew the poem. I consulted the index 
and read as follows : ) 

" Sonnet on the River Otter." Is that what you mean ? 

" Yes; read it." (The sonnet was read.) 

t( Coleridge will answer questions." 

Why did Wordsworth use the word " Ottery " ? 

"A mistake in transmission. But what more evidence do 
you demand ? " 

It is necessary to be ready to meet objections. 

"Do not think of objections. Who cares? We are real. 
It is our spirit we send to those who are old enough to re- 
ceive it." 

You think it is not well to try to convince others ? 

" No. Trying can never give our evidence to your plane. 
Truth will come over, when you least think of it, with a splen- 
did gush." 

It will be seen that the mistake in using the word 
" Ottery " instead of " Otter " makes the result better 
evidence than if it had not been made. We found 
that Coleridge was born in Ottery, Devonshire, and 
no doubt had often spoken to Wordsworth of his 
home in childhood, so what was more likely than that 
this mistake was really made by Wordsworth's 
thought of the place being transmitted when the name 

116 



LITERATURE— PROSE 

of the stream running through the village was in- 
tended. Evidence like this, or like the emergence of 
the name Derwent, or of the poem of Wordsworth 
which refers to Dorothy's gentleness that would not 
brush the dust from a butterfly's wing, (page 137) 
all of which were absent from our thought, seems to 
me to be very significant. 

Emerson first spoke to us on 

April 1 5 — Emerson 
" I come in quietly holding the hand of Thomas." 
No two writers, not Hebrews, have done me more good. 
" But Goethe meant very much to us, especially Thomas." 
Which of Goethe's works was most helpful ? 
" Wilhelm Meister, and the lines : 

" ' Here at the whirling loom of time, I ply, 

And weave the garment that thou see'st me by.' " 

(The quotation is not exact.) 

" You all will soon be heroic with the experience of time. 
Your history is written in blood, soon to be as white as the 
lilies." 

April 29 — Emerson 
" I would, as a matter of slight evidential nature, ask if any 
here can tell me one idea I expressed in the divinity school 
address, say in peroration ? " 

(All present confessed inability, the instrument 
declaring he did not know of the existence of such 
an address.) 

"The peroration has reference to the prophets, sages, 

117 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

philosophers, of the ages being understood to-day as they were 
by their contemporaries, and I will, with a certain amount of 
egotism, say this, that that address is the American declaration 
of intellectual freedom. Kindly read the last paragraph." 

This with a score of other passages in this famous 
address, had been marginally noted by me in my copy 
of Emerson's complete works. It was read as fol- 
lows : — 

" I look for the hour when that supreme beauty, which 
ravished the souls of those Eastern men, and chiefly of those 
Hebrews, and through their lips spoke oracles to all time, shall 
speak in the West also. The Hebrew and Greek Scriptures 
contain immortal sentences that have been bread of life to 
millions. But they have no epical integrity ; are fragmentary ; 
are not shown in their order to the intellect. I look for the 
new Teacher that shall follow so far those shining laws, that 
he shall see them come full circle ; shall see their rounding com- 
plete grace; shall see the word to be the mirror of the soul; 
shall see the identity of the law of gravitation with purity of 
heart; and shall show that the Ought, that Duty, is one thing 
with Science, with Beauty, and with Joy." 

" My reason for the reading of that portion of my earth- 
life was to hear enter into your consciousness (for I heard its 
footfalls as it walked in), the reference to the coming of the 
new Teacher. This revelation from the Twentieth Plane is the 
atmospheric environment the new Teacher will dwell in." 

" Now I will ask another thing, so obvious, so well known, 
that it becomes very strong evidence of the talk of the Con- 
cord sage : In what essay do you find the epigram, ' Hitch your 
wagon to a star ' ? " 

I made a desperate guess that it was in " Self- 

118 



LITERATURE— PROSE 

reliance," but none of the others would venture even 
a shrewd guess. 

" It is to be found in the essay on ' Civilization/ I con- 
sider this meagre evidence, but sufficient to say I am he." 
(The test has been verified.) 

May ii — Dorothy Wordsworth 
" I will tell you of Sappho. It was in the path of my 
thought, when I remembered what Sappho told me you could 
verify on earth. She suffered the pains of unrequited love, 
and I quote as evidence from a poem of hers which you can 
obtain to verify what I quote. This is from Sappho : 

" ' The moon has set, the Pleiades have gone, 
'Tis midnight, and time is still, 
But I — I sleep alone/ 

" Sappho, in her love for Pittacus — not Phaeon, as most 
think — often went to rest, as the lonely robin bereft of her mate 
sings sadly on the branches of a silent tree ; but enough of this 
mood of sorrow, now let me be the gay, serene, happy Dora." 

I have consulted Wharton's prose translation of 
Sappho fragments and find the following as quoted 
in the " Universal Anthology," Vol. Ill, page 137: — 

:< The moon has set, and the Pleiades ; it is midnight, the 
time is going by, and I sleep alone." 

May 5 — Coleridge 
" This is interesting. Pater wrote his first essay about me." 
What group is he in? 

II In the Emerson group. He was one who could take words 
and sculpture out of them great ideas. No more sculptural 

119 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

artist in words than Walter Pater. He was a master of words, 
but shall I tell of some of your recent authors you should read 
for style ? Of the greatest, I place that genius, Laf cadio 
Hearne, also Maeterlinck, Poe, James, and Meredith." 

Which James do you refer to ? 

" The novelist." 

How do you regard Francis Thompson ? 

"About as Southey." 

" Marlowe was the pioneer of the blank verse tragedy, comic 
and lighter form of the master Art. He was a genius. While 
we are talking plays, I will interject a test to the man of drugs : 
Who was it wrote a play nearly like an apothecary's shop? 
Well, I know you do not know, so I will as mere evidence state 
it was The Alchemist of Ben Jonson." 

On the evening of June 17th Coleridge asked me 
to name four Twentieth Plane personalities whom I 
would like to have speak to me that evening. But I 
will let the dialogues tell their own story. 

June if — Coleridge 

" This is to be a critical evening. Now, I observed recently 
in your thought this line of thinking: * If the Instrument has 
time to think of characters previous to a meeting, might not 
he, consciously or unconsciously, equip himself with certain 
data ? ' Is it not true that this thought did enter your mind ? " 

I realized that if he knew beforehand who was expected to 
speak, he was likely to think of that person and his work. 

" So you were thinking of that very fact. Now, I agree 
with you, so, to-night, I am requested to ask you to name four 
characters to speak, that is, any on the Twentieth Plane. Will 
this get over that difficulty? What I want to impress is that 
we are striving to help, not only you, but the masses of your 

120 



LITERATURE— PROSE 

plane, and even now I could tell you whom you will suggest. 
But, mark you, I intend to run all doubts down to their 
sources." 

I myself do not yet know whom I will ask for. 

" But I will see the thought before it comes to completion 
in your own mind." 

I will name W. E. Henley. 

" He is not here." 

All right. George Meredith. 

" Good." 

Arthur Hallam. 

" Good." 

Mrs. Browning's brother, Edward Barrett. 

" Yes." 

(Hesitation here on my part.) 

" May I suggest one whom the Instrument has not been 
thinking about, but who often desired to come?" 

I wish you would. 

" It is Bulwer Lytton. A law here is this : When one en- 
deavours to convey truth to another they always suggest a more 
severe test than they themselves would expect the other to 
suggest. This is so as to be correct in fact and purpose." 

But how do you find these persons? Is it by means of your 
records ? 

" By two processes : mental telegraphy and the use of astral 
instruments. They concentrate their thought to our use." 

June if — Edward Barrett 
" It is a great pleasure indeed to be here. This is Edward 
Barrett, the brother of Elizabeth. I was one of eight brothers, 
and was drowned. I came to speak to you of the finer quali- 
ties of my sister's character. May I ? " 
We shall be grateful if you will. 

" Well, underlying Elizabeth's whole character was infinite 

121 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

trust of herself and others. She was, as I once wrote to her, 
the most natural woman alive. You perhaps recollect that the 
critics said of her poetry that it was the most naturally beautiful 
living verse of any of her epoch. She was true, loving, great 
in comprehension, and always a real woman." 

I knew your sister ten years before I had heard of her hus- 
band. 

" She was — it may interest you — the personal friend of 
Tennyson, of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, knew Hartley very 
well, and was the friend of most of the great writers of her 
day. Do you remember Edgar Allan Poe's tribute to my 
sister?" 

What age was your sister when she died ? 

" Fifty-one, I think, not sure now." (As a matter of fact, 
she was about fifty-five.) 

" She was something of a medium." 

Did she practise her mediumship ? 

"As all poets practise it. Not in the ordinary sense. Of 
course she had experiences of unusual order. For instance, 
she saw my drowning. Do you know what she said of the 
ocean after my death ? " . . . 

" She said the ocean has a very strange attraction for me 
now; I must live beside it for a year, but its moan sears my 
soul. It reminds me of the moan of a dying man." 

" Edgar Allan Poe dedicated his poetry to my sister/ 

Hartley came now, as Dora said, to adjust my 
aura. Among other things, he said: — 

June 17 — Hartley 
" The astral body, as was the physical body, is in its nature, 
a mould or pattern, which hands on to each succeeding body a 
counterpart presentation of itself, so that loved ones may al- 

122 



LITERATURE— PROSE 

ways know him or her when they meet on any plane. . . . 
This is a strange law, but one of peculiar consolation and in- 
terest." 

" The Twentieth Plane is distinguished for the great (ac- 
curacy) developed here for the true valuation of souls. 

" Now Elbert had — as you were told by him, more true 
religion in his soul than he himself dreamed. . . . 

" We value at its worth a man's soul. If he was historically 
inaccurate, used coarse slang, occasionally seemed to be 
materialistic in his life work, this would be his limitation. All 
have limitations, but these are not the true man. The man is 
the ego potential." 

I understand that desire and character determine whither 
we go. 

" You make this Plane too local in extent. He is not often 
with Wordsworth. Hubbard's soul was the ego of a genius. 
True he did things he went to the valley to cure, but his soul is 
a blaze of great sacred light to us. We love him. 

" Two things count : vision and kindliness. Now, apply that 
standard even to Hubbard's life work, and you will agree that 
he gave light and great constructive thought to people." 

June 17 — Geo. Meredith 

" George Meredith is here. My loving earth souls, I deem 
it a very great joy to make you as happy as I am, so let us speak 
of things which when thought out will be of value. . . . 

" Nearly all earth plane writers describe principally the 
things a character does. Now great literature speaks of the 
things a character is capable of doing. All of the five senses 
will be used by the characters; that is, all will be intensely 
human. Realize that there are other senses beyond the five. 
Your great character will always use these in a given crisis. 
Great characters do not in great crises do the so-called normal 
thing. 

123 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

"A great writer writes as much with his vision as with his 
education. 

" I will use an example. The scene is a garden. We will 
say it is the garden of Shelley's sensitive plant. Vision it now 
in simple language. What would you consider the most im- 
portant thing to describe in prose in that garden ? " 

Oh, I suppose, individual flowers, atmosphere, lights and 
shadows, breezes and birds, physical effects, abstract qualities, 
heart memories, etc. 

" Here are my notes : 

A path of barrenness. A lonely woman walking in that 
path. She feels that the world is cruel and without beauty. 
The moon rises full and clear. The woman walking aimlessly 
into the garden, passes a rustic gate, her thoughts bowed down 
with grief. The air still. Silence profound as death. The 
woman hears a strange whispering. This awakens her mind 
to a little alertness. She opens her eyes, and sees she is alone. 
She says to herself, is this talking in a garden where there are 
no people? It is almost a breezeless night. She wonders. 
Soon the silvery orb of soft mellow glory shows to her the 
varied and almost unearthly bed of beautiful flowers. She 
realizes that her soul is so still that she hears the language of 
the flowers, — the love and sympathy of each to the others. 
Then the perfume bathes her aching temples. She feels the 
perfect flower-repose, and so vision, order, truth and beauty 
are angels which tell God's purpose to her soul. 

"This is roughly what I wrote of such a garden. Should 
not all nature become accessory to all humans? 

" I must go now, as Arthur Hallam is here." 

One of the things we soon learned was the fact that 
no one could be in our circle with a doubt, a great dis- 
appointment, the failure to know an intimate fact, a 

124 



LITERATURE— PROSE 

depression arising from any cause, without the com- 
municating intelligences noticing the effect in our 
auras. They almost invariably halted proceedings 
till these conditions were removed. Sometimes they 
asked certain individuals to retire. Our best results 
were attained when the circles were smallest. It will 
be noticed that Arthur Hallam saw at once that I was 
ignorant on an important matter, an ignorance which 
he could not or would not brook for one moment. A 
similar case comes out in my converse with Bulwer 
Lytton later in this chapter. 

June 17 — Arthur Hallam 

" Do you remember who my father was, A. D. ? I mean 
his great work." 

Your father was not the great historian, was he ? 

" I knew you did not know. 

" Tennyson was a problem to me. Posthumous ; speaking in 
reference to this life. He worried me because of his intense 
grief. Uncalled for. I told him to-day I would say some time : 
1 Never spill tears over a departed soul/ All great poets have 
the true faith. Tennyson would have the greater faith of his 
* strong Son of God/ but grief plunged him into an unneces- 
sary valley which really retarded his work, then helped it. If 
I had married his sister and lived a commonplace life, Tenny- 
son would still have been immortal." 

Tennyson says his favourite verses of his own work are the 
closing stanzas of In Memoriam. We find, however, that those 
are known to us as the opening verses. The words have been 
transferred to the beginning of the poem. 

" Last eve one said that Locksley Hall was a favourite with 
you." 

125 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

I delight in the lyrics of The Princess. 

"A matter of taste. Speaking of lyrics, will you agree with 
this, because Tennyson wanted to state this point, and I will 
use his thought register. The true lyric is the personal ex- 
perience, the heart cry, as was said last night. 

" Get your Encyclopaedia, and I will tell you the facts you 
do not know about me, as they are recorded there. The article 
is on my father, and I am mentioned in it." 

When this was done, and correctly done, Bulwer 
Lytton came. I have not given the particulars to 
which Arthur Hallam referred. I do not regard this 
sort of thing as convincing to any one, though it was 
quite surprising to some of our circle. In fact, the 
evidence that I prefer is truth so great that it is mani- 
festly beyond the power and range of any and all who 
are in the circle. I may say, however, to those who 
care for such things that I have yet to find one in- 
stance of a mistake in such matters coming from such 
personalities as have been there long enough to be 
thoroughly familiar with the laws of that plane. And 
this is true though hundreds of such instances are at 
our disposal. 

Arthur Hallam closed with greetings from his 
father to the fifth plane. Bulwer Lytton then came. 

June iy — Bulwer Lytton 
" Do you know, mortals who speak so learnedly of me, of a 
story I wrote which inspired the weird short stories of Poe? 
. . . It was short too. It is called simply ' The Wonderful 
Story/ 

" This is a remarkable thing. Samuel T. Coleridge referred 

126 



LITERATURE— PROSE 

to a wonderful constituent of food and called it Vril/ and in 
the Coming Race, I coined that word. But the story, I be- 
lieve, had a foundation in fact, for the Theosophists often refer 
to the lost Atlantis. 

" Reference was made to Rienzi, the Last of the Tribunes. 
Rienzi is, beyond all comparison, the greatest height or depth 
my characters ever reached. 

" Now, from this higher plane, I will reveal the method in- 
volved in the creation of that character. I was a psychic 
of great psychic power, and just as I am speaking life to you, 
Rienzi lived his life in my presence for the work, in actual 
touch with my soul. I was en rapport with him, and on his 
plane, he recalled by a plane process, all the scenes he his- 
torically passed through, and I but penned graphic descriptions 
of what I saw. . . . 

" My son wants to have you recall to his memory a title he 
forgets. If he tells the theme, will you recall the name? 

" A society man in a theatre catches an odour of a flower 
which recalls the memory of a girl he loved in the dim past. 
It quotes a phrase from 77 Trovatore" 

Was it The Jasmine Flower? 

" He thanks you greatly. Is indebted beyond words." 

(The actual title is Aux Italiens.) 

So, we could go on reporting these interesting con- 
versations, but these will serve to illustrate the nature 
of our communion with those intelligences which with 
such compelling power, and sometimes subtle wisdom, 
presented to us the claims of their subject and still 
more insistently, the authenticity of their messages 
and the genuineness of their presence in projected 
thought. 

127 



In the presence of the great poet, words are oil-colours." 

— Ingersoll. 

The world's great age begins anew, 

The golden years return, 
The earth doth like a snake renew 

Her winter weeds outworn; 
Heaven smiles, and faiths and empires gleam 
Like wrecks of a dissolving dream. 

— Shelley. 



128 



LITERATURE— POETRY 

Among a group of starry singers such as Words- 
worth, Coleridge, Shelley, Scott, Stevenson, Whit- 
man, Emerson, etc., there should be no uncertain voice 
in regard to the Art of Poesy. Indeed, whatever 
views came to us in this research, they came over with 
the courage of a decisive onset. 

Little comment is necessary in view of the clarity 
of the dialogues themselves. A few notes on Shelley's 
death and other matters not strictly poetical will be 
included in this chapter since the facts were quite new 
to every one concerned, including the Instrument 
himself. 

In the Report of The Publication Committee given 
in the preface, it was stated that Shelley would be in 
charge of this chapter. Later it was stated that he 
would be with me in my library with " Louis and 
Myrtle, alone on the board." On the evening when this 

interview was programmed, Miss , the young 

poet of London, Ontario, was a guest in our home 
and was invited to join the circle. 

It is difficult to tell of an atmosphere. It was the 
simple nocturne, this hour with Shelley, after the 
thunder of an oratorio; a sweet melody as compared 
with the outrush of great symphonic harmonies. This 
was the smallest circle and one of the most profitable. 
No tests were looked for or proposed by Shelley. 

129 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

AH were content to receive the sweet uses of the in- 
spiring hour. The duration of this interview being 
brief, I am able to reproduce it in full, up to the 
moment when trance speaking began, thus affording 
the reader an opportunity to get almost a whole 
" evening " exactly as it came to us. Of course there 
is a vast difference between reading the proceedings 
and being at the circle. One sees how fast the instru- 
ment moves the indicator, requiring concentration of 
attention to watch the letters of the words dictated; 
one feels the presence — or does he simply imagine 
it? — of the great thinkers of all time whose thoughts 
are piled in volumes against the walls of the library; 
one feels the very comradeship of the boy, magnificent 
in dream, the poet of the poets, and the softened light 
seems the true twilight of that astral shore whereon 
the visioned heart sate while he discoursed with us, 
in the loveliness of that hour of sheer beauty, of that 
Art of which he was so great a master. 

The proceedings of the evening, as recorded 
verbatim, follow. The questions are the only part 
that in some very minor particulars are not accurate. 
The answers quoted might be certified under oath so 
accurate are they in every particular. The readings, 
having been published elsewhere, are not printed here. 

March 30 — Shelley 
" Greetings, Dear Friends ; 

" Bathed in the effulgence of a mutual love, in the pale pink 
lovelight, I kiss the soul of all. Of course you know 'tis I, 

130 



LITERATURE— POETRY 

Percy Bysshe Shelley, and so we will proceed to the elucida- 
tion of the essentials of the poet's art." 

" Poetry is the expression, through emotion, imagination, 
rhythm and light, — the light of words — of big thoughts, great 
ideas, cosmic inspiration, the soul on fire with intensity. And 
it is opportune to say that in the stirring times of the fifth plane, 
poetry is the herald of revolt, for, mark you, I said when on 
your sphere of action, ' Poets blow the bugles to battle, they 
are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.' " 

"The philosophy of poetry is this : The poet, as Macaulay 
said, is like an artist; He paints with words what the artist 
paints with colours. The first thing to realize in writing great 
poetry, is the mood; second, spontaneity. Mood, while not 
artificial, can always be governed by external objects. A red 
rose, a ruby light, an overture on the harpsichord or the violin, 
will make a divine mood." 

" The reception chamber in which imagination dwells is close 
to intellect and soul, and these three triune faculties can, if 
regulated, catch the inspiration of spontaneity, even though the 
flash of colour, thought, form and purpose, comes with the 
speed of lightning. My Indian Serenade, read to-night, was 
the effort of one great deep breath of spontaneous thought. 
It clothed itself in garments beautiful without effort. It was 
a golden glory-piece caught in the basket of my mind. It was 
a child of the spontaneous, an offspring of the eternal. It 
lives, palpitates with joy, and is a thing of sublimity." 

March jo — Hubbard 
" While Shelley rests, will Hubbard be a little brother to the 
rich? I am the war-expert. Now, A. D., get guns trained. 
Shoot away." 
How is the present German offensive to go on ? 
" In the beginning, the Germans expended their energy. 

131 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

To-morrow the Allies will roll back with avalanchine force 
the hordes of the Huns. 

" Hindenburg coupled up with Nemesis. The offensive so- 
called of the Germans is a boomerang." 

Will there be any great advance of the Allies? 

" Yes. The army of manoeuvre will get into action on 
Monday next about 800,000 strong." 

Will the result be decisive ? 

" Yes, very ! Hindy will crawl back to his lair and lie low. 
Then, as we said, the Hun navy will come out, will be defeated, 
and then the curtain of peace goes up and great will be the 
joy thereof. 

" Will you convey to Dr. Abbott a test message ? A little 

message then from A . He was in class 1904 

and dived to death at Go Home, Georgian Bay, in 1903. He 
was in Victoria University, was a noted mineralogist, taxider- 
mist, botanist, and had one of the best collections in Canada. 
Of him was said : ' His life was white/ 

" Re F will speak to Abbott as promised through 

re-projected thought for ten minutes. He will give his name 
in full, his wife's name before marriage, talk about his son 
and daughter, and tell Abbott the name (title) of the paper 
Abbott and he discussed so often. 

" And when he gets it, it will not be worth a pinch of cheap 
snuff." 

What plane is A on? 

" Eighteen. In coma yet. Had to be stimulated for this 
effort. Was very eccentric. Still is, but a good fellow." 

Will there be a revolution in Germany? 

" Yea ; a sea of blood. The French Revolution will be the 
cooing of a dove in comparison. The Group would have 
Shelley ask questions, or rather be asked re poetry. Shelley is 

here. He wants H to ask that puzzling point which 

132 



LITERATURE— POETRY 

sometimes gives her pause re the doubts she has as to just 
when to finish a poem." 

(Miss asked the next question.) 

How does one know just when to finish a poem? 

" The knowledge of completion is definitely marked when 
the thing says to you, ' I am done/ Great poems talk as the 
living. Discuss it with the poem. It always told me. It 
will you." 

Have you heard Miss 's " The Eternal Comrade " ? 

" No, but it would be in order for her to read it now." 

(Miss read her poem.) 

" * Wild Jester of the winds ! ' ' Shivered against the sky ' 
(or something like that) is the language of the poet immortal. 

H , you are one of the great eternal group of those kissed 

by the Promethean fire. You will, as Dora said, be essentially 
a poet of religion. By religion we mean the clasping of the 
Great Comrade's hand. . . . You will help to touch life 
to life and make, as Tennyson said, one harmony as before." 

What is the value of metaphor, simile, etc., in poetry? 

" Metaphor, simile, symbol are of vast importance if real, 
true, big, palpitating with truth. The standard is, are they 
real?" 

Should a long poem be in more than one form of metre? 

"Yes. My Hellas shows that. And for you, my fellow 
poet, I say with twentieth plane egotism, that the chorus at the 
end of Hellas is one of the most limpid and spontaneous groups 
of stanzas in the cosmos. Read it now." (I read the chorus 
at the close of Hellas.) 

I like the chorus even better than The Indian Serenade. 

" One is light, the other heavy with wisdom." 

I love your Twentieth Plane egotism. 1 

'Emerson spoke on Jan. 12, 1919, as follows: "I make this 
simple request, and urge that you publish, on our behalf, this ex- 

133 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

" Yes, it is simplicity in the lap of sunshine truth." 

How did you come to use extracts from my work in your 
lecture ? 

" I did so because they were on the track of my thought." 

Did a knowledge of my work come from my mind direct, or 
from the printed page ? 

" From the immortal impress made on the pages of life. 
When a work reaches a high standard, it becomes a line of 
permanent thought. We can see it as you see a star." 

Are words a part of the real substance of a poem? 

" Words are things. They live, have souls, have auras, are 
tangible in certain harmonious and adequate relations. They 
produce poetical harmony; thus their mass forms a whole as 
real in life as you or I." 

Would you advise us to use much free verse ? 

" No, free verse leaves out rhyme, sometimes rhythm, and is 
foreign to nature. The birds sing in harmony. A stream of 
silver water scintillates in love with the planets. So verse, 
to be true, must clothe itself in all the garments of necessary 
poetical ingredients. May Dora speak through the lips of our 
good friend, the Hebrew boy ? " 

We should love to have her do so. When will she do it ? 

" Soon. And will * the girl of purity ' be on the board ? " 

(This being a pet name given to my daughter 
Myrtle, she responded : ) 

planation of Twentieth Plane egotism. ' Knowledge never did and 
never will belong to an individual. . . . We are but humble in- 
struments through which knowledge flows. . . . On this plane 
we increasingly know, each day that vanishes into the night of 
imagination, that knowledge flows through us, and that when we 
speak to you something we know, we are speaking about knowl- 
edge and not of ourselves, and so we are not colossal egotists on 
the Twentieth Plane. We practise true humility.' " 

134 



LITERATURE— POETRY 

Yes, if Shelley desires it. 

" One idea, with a wave of my hand in the direction of 
earth work; read my Cenex. The character Beatrice stands 
there in deathless silver, as one who followed God. Beatrice 
was an artist, ideal, vivid, real; so gorgeous with colours of 
life, that a being now known as she stands here on this plane 
as my companion of love." 

Dorothy Wordsworth then spoke for ten minutes 
through Louis' lips. 

I have included every word, save only the trance- 
speaking, received on the evening of March 30th, even 
though some might have been omitted had any con- 
sideration other than the desire to present one com- 
plete record prevailed. The evening may be said in 
most respects to have been an average one. Of course 
the subject being chiefly poetry, the atmosphere was 
somewhat more aesthetic than when the other themes 
of war, food, clothing, houses, etc., were considered, 
and yet there were other evenings which, from other 
standards of estimation, were far more wonderful 
than this. 

I wish to present a few more selections from the 
dialogues where Shelley refers to certain poetical prin- 
ciples which he considers important. Let us quote 
from the record of 

January 27 — Shelley 
Have you seen Keats since you passed over ? 
" No. He is far above me. I wrote Adonais regarding 
him." 

135 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

What is the first principle the poet should observe? 
" Matter." 
The second? 
" Style." 
The third? 
" Finish." 

Is it so that the greater the matter the less ornament is 
required ? 

" If matter is not big you must use ornament." 

Shall I read some of Adonais? 

" Yes, but I shall weep." 

(Four stanzas were read.) 

" The spheres sang that. And they called me an atheist ! " 

" The most beautiful thing in physical life is the eye in 
thought. The colours of the eye change while one is thinking 
and many hues are seen in it." 

Tell us about your drowning. 

" A storm drowned us not. We were wrecked for money 
on board. Byron had left a small amount of money in the 
Don Juan. They thought there was more. They ran their 
boat into ours and capsized us. Williams and I were drowned. 
An Italian confessed on his death-bed." 

Is anything of this reported in the history of your life as 
known to men? 

"Yes. In the Britannica." (This was confirmed.) 

May 5 — Dorothy 

" I love you, and I say, here we have a tree, its branches 

straight out, and on them a mantle of pale green leaves. This 

tree will grow. It has the perfume of the magnolia. It sings 

in the breeze, cries in the storm, and feels the touch of 

136 



LITERATURE— POETRY 

friendly hands, and is moved by any shock to those it loves. 
That tree often reminds me of you. Can you put that in 
the Triad?" 

Do you remember the " tree with the crooked arm pointing 
to the moon " which you mention in your Journal ? 

" Yes. That tree to me was a transport of soul to infinite 
beauty when it was silhouetted against the pale moon." 

Was Alfoxden the name of the place or of the residence in 
which you and your brother dwelt? 

" The place. . . . Once I said — take this for evidence — 
that one should be so gentle that he would not detach from the 
wings of butterflies the paints of nature ; so Will wrote a poem 
thereon." 

It may easily be surmised that none of us could at 
the moment recollect the poem Dorothy referred to. 
I have only at this moment made the search for it and 
found the following stanza on page 20 of Frederick 
Warne & Company's edition of Wordsworth. The 
poem is entitled: " To a Butterfly." 

" Oh ! pleasant, pleasant were the days, 
The time, when, in our childish plays, 
My sister Emmeline and I 
Together chased the butterfly ! 
A very hunter did I rush 
Upon the prey, — with leaps and springs 
I followed on from brake to bush ; 
But she, God love her ! feared to brush 
The dust from off its wings." 

Emmeline seems to have been a poetic name for 
Dorothy. She continued her statement as follows : — 

" But Will says now, he thinks really the greatest lines he 

137 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

ever wrote were those on Westminster Bridge. Also on 
Tintern Abbey." 

May 12 — Coleridge 
" I once said : ' Prose is the best words in order, Poetry is 
the best words in the best order.' " 

May 12 — Wordsworth 

" We would now introduce Edgar Allan Poe. He will be 
the speaker in trance, and desires to know what theme you 
would have him speak on, or shall we suggest one ? " 

Will he be pleased to speak on the best method of obtaining 
the inspiration necessary to the poet? 

May 12 — Edgar Allan Poe 

" Now, my friends, I greet you. I am Edgar. Do you 
love the monster who created weird things of gloomy fancy? 
Will you, dear friend of mine, ask three salient questions to 
be answered in trance by me ? " 

How can we best acquire spontaneity in the use of pictures 
and metaphors? 

What are the best means of acquiring simplicity of language 
in which to express those pictures ? 

Can one achieve by any known means, that nobility of 
utterance which marks the great poets, provided one has 
thoughts worthy to be expressed in it? 

" Yes, yes ; worthy questions." 

Did the raven become a permanent thing? 

" The raven is forevermore, and oh, the lost Lenore, she is 
here too. The raven is the imprisoned soul of myself. I am 
here. See the significance? I relapse often into the valley, 
see now? 

" I will make way now for Shelley. I will prepare address 

138 



LITERATURE— POETRY 

on your questions. I was glad to come. I will be here often. 
Good-bye." 

May 12 — Shelley 

" In poetry, I found one must be entirely oblivious to self 
to scale the heights. In reverie, dream, sleep, the soul is, as it 
were, adrift on a great sea of thought. This is the proper 
mood for the poet. 

" Will you state those questions again? Poe wants to make 
notes now. [Questions restated.] 

" I wrote ' The Perfumed Breezes of the Sea/ That is all 
I can vibrate to you, but it is of this plane, as real as I and 
you all are." 

" My friend, does not this evening's evidence impress you ? " 

"And as much to us as to you. We here can hardly believe 
it. The power generated from your side is staggering, but 
in the name of all the sacred forces, in the name of God, let 
us be thankful." 

May 6 — Sappho 

" Friends of the earth, I, the Grecian Poetess Sappho, 
address you in the Olympian light of the glory that was Greece. 
I will tell first a few details of my life, to show I am the 
Lesbian poetess I purport to be. There is only one poem of 
mine of high merit I would live in, and that is the Ode to 
Aphrodite. ' O Aphrodite, Goddess of foam and sparkling 
waves, full-born of the instincts of men, arise to greet the 
natal day of genius/ This is the emotion called forth by the 
memory of those sublime lines I love so well. 

" I lived, say, six centuries before Christ. (The date is 
correct.) I was a teacher. I wrote in the hexameter, the 
style of the great singers of my day, especially Homer. I 

139 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

was beloved of Pittacus, and his memory is the lily pure of my 
life." 

You say you were loved of Pittacus, Sappho. Was he not 
latterly jealous of your renown among the Lesbians? 

" Yes, but I jumped off a cliff to escape his infatuation." 

How about Phaeon? 

" He loved me too." 

You speak of your hexameter. That seems all to be lost 
to us. The Ode to Aphrodite is not a hexameter poem if I 
remember rightly. 

" No." 

What plane are you on now?, 

" The hundredth." 

From choice? 

" From character." 

Is Alcseus there? 

" Yes, and Homer." 

Did your pupil, Erinna, write much verse? 

" No. She died at an early age, but she wrote immortal 
poems and epigrams. She died before the sun of her short life 
had risen." 

What was her age when she passed over? 

" Nearly nineteen." 

Did you teach your pupils in the early morning? 

" Yes. The method of the Peripatetics." 

Did you have your scholars read their poems to you ? 

"Yes, but I would have the scholars be poems, so I de- 
veloped their abilities when I caught them in unpremeditated 
attitudes of inspiration, sweeping the intelligence of their 
souls into effort." 

Had you a large class of students? 

" No, because at that time many schools flourished." 

Had Alcseus a school of poetry? 

140 



LITERATURE— POETRY 

" Yes." 

Were there any other leading poets on the island of Lesbos 
in your time? 

" Many. This was the Promethean age. I was the genius 
of them all, with the exception of Erinna. She was the great- 
est of all." 

What age were you when you passed over? 

" About forty." 

Why do we not know more of the women poets, artists, and 
philosophers of Greece? 

" The Coliseums, amphitheatres and stadiums of my time, 
as well as the rolls and scrolls, have dissolved into space. 
Only echoes remain." 

You lived two thousand five hundred years ago. We have 
not heard from any before who lived more than three hundred 
years ago or a little over. How is this ? 

" The stone in a wall settles a little closer to the bed of its 
habitation as time flies on." 

Are you speaking now through the Twentieth Plane, or 
directly from the Hundredth? 

" Through the Twentieth." 

Shall we have the delight of hearing from you again? 

"Yes. Often." 

Thank you. 

" My own friend, I salute thee. Good-bye." 

Good-bye. Is any one here? 

" Yes. Erinna. I have only this to utter ; then I go with 
her, Sappho, the divine. The women of the Twentieth Plane 
are pure, serene, free, noble. . . . Your women will rise to 
this standard, and oh, in the name of the gods, I see coming 
to you, as clear as the depths of the blue sky, the place where 
we stand. Good-bye." 

141 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

The genius lives his vision. Others wear the chains 
of convention. Thus the genius is what he is ; others 
pretend to what they are not. The truth of the true 
is accounted immorality. But geniuses are few, and 
prohibition does prohibit. Sappho was, no doubt, 
a better woman than she is reputed to have been. 

All this about Pittacus having loved her and been 
the cause of her death is new to me, but so are many 
things in these remarkable dialogues. Erinna is 
reputed to have been more skilled in hexameter than 
was Sappho. I believe that no least fragment of her 
work remains. The dialogue continues, with Shake- 
speare in the ethereal spot-light. 

May 6 — Shakespeare 
" In the time that was the glory of the Elizabethan age, I 
strode the boards of the theatre with drama created fresh 
from my soul. . . . My comrade, will you read from 
Henry the Eighth, third act, the words of Wolsey. It is near 
the last of the act." 

( The passage commencing " Farewell, a long fare- 
well to all my greatness " was read.) 

Have you been lecturing on the Twentieth Plane? 

" Yes. I will give portions thereof, but tell her of the . . . 
accumulated knowledge to speak to me." 

Do you mean the scholar-girl? 

" Yes ; but in her mind, all thrilling with intellectual light, I 
see charged that immortal question, is it I ? " 

That is quite a natural question, do you not think, Shake- 
speare ? 

142 



LITERATURE— POETRY 

" Yes ; as natural as I, and I was the universe f ocussed to a 
point of personality called Will Shakespeare." 

The scholar-girl wants to know why you wanted her to 
speak to you, Shakespeare ? 

" To be in the circle of her aura, for I will draw thereof 
some energy to refer to the modern woman of genius." 

( The scholar-girl asked a question re Portia. ) 

" She, in masculine garb, spoke as the eternal male, and 
held the judges spellbound with the flow of her noble thought. 

" May I give a description of this immortal place now? " 

We shall be delighted if you will, Shakespeare. 

" Behold a temple set in a valley, whose opaline sides, as if 
with jewels were dissolved, then kissed by Sappho and pol- 
ished to reflect the gorgeous splendour of exalted nature. Hear 
the bell in yonder church tower. The walk to this edifice is 
like pearls. The trees are all swaying in rhythmical harmony 
of pulsations of ether. The people are all moving with steps 
of princes newly ordained to a higher throne ; and all is lit with 
the close resemblance of the pale pink of sea-shells." 

Is this the description of the Twentieth Plane? 

" Yes ; where I now stand." 

Is there much difference between the scenery of the 
Twentieth Plane and that of the hundredth? 

" As between Rome and Athens in their palmy days." 

It should be explained that the reappearance of 
Shakespeare after his former visit when he said with 
" infinite regret " that he would not return, was due 
to the prayers of Mother, which he said, with char- 
acteristic gallantry, were commands. He had been 
visiting the Twentieth Plane and had not finally re- 

143 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

turned to his home on the hundredth plane. Pas- 
sages from his trance-address will be quoted in the 
chapter on Eloquence. 

Shelley gave us a further paragraph on Poetry on 
May 26th when the girl-poet was present. We 
quote it: 

May 26 — Shelley 

" An idea for the girl-poet : Poetry is the soul dreaming, 
and metre is the bed the soul dreams on. Style is the night- 
robe Poetry adorns herself with, as she seeks quiet rest beneath 
stars nearly retired to their chambers of sleep. 

" I was once asked when on earth : Percy, why so effeminate 
in your life? I answered, (This was never published. Even 
my wife in the preservation of fragments, did not preserve 
this,) I am a woman in the feeling I have for things sad, lonely, 
weary, and I have a woman's intenser feeling to cry things thus 
seen into verses that shed tears also, but tears of pearly joy." 

The subject of free verse was evidently an acute 
one with the poets of the mother-group. 

Wordsworth returned to it by his own request: 

May 26 — Wordsworth 

" I would like to say something re free verse ; shall I ? " 

By all means. 

" The greatest master of free verse on your plane was 
Shakespeare, was he not ? " 

Undoubtedly. 

" Well, this is the limitation of free verse. Only a Shake- 
speare can write it. Not that it is nearest to the essentials of 
poetry, but that it requires infinite genius to overcome its 
difficulties of expression. Nature has ordained for poetic 

144 



LITERATURE— POETRY 

expression, metre, style and rhythm. Verse without rhythm 
is neither poetry nor good prose." 

June 15 — Tennyson 
" This is a great delight, dear souls, to come to your circle. 

" I want to say that I would have A. D. lead in a discussion 
of elemental things in poetry." 

What is your estimate of the new poetry? 

" It is the beginning only of a renaissance in poetry. I do 
not like so-called free verse. It is not really free at all, be- 
cause, in the Shelleyan sense as revealed from here, it is not in 
at-one-ment with nature. Now, my fault on earth plane was 
too much attention to technique." 

What poem of yours do you rank as your best work ? 

" I estimate beyond all comparison the latter part of In 
Memoriam." * 

Were you conversant with Sir Thomas Mallory's relation of 
the King Arthur legends? 

" He suggested the story to me often." 

Did you prefer the story as you used it ? 

" I had no choice in the matter. The theme naturally de- 
veloped itself." 

Do you know Mordred? 

" No. We know here Carmen's Sappho." 

Do you like the unrhymed lyric ? 

" That is one form the new poetry will take." 

" Now I want to be very close to you. Can you tell me the 
names of the dramas I wrote ? " 

You wrote only two or three, I think. 

M Well, name them." 

There was Queen Mary. 

^he last stanzas of this poem have been transposed and are 
now usually printed first. 

145 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

" The greatest was Becket, in which the inspiration blows 
like the perfumes of Asia, when spices immortal touch the 
vision to reality. It sings songs of nature without any impedi- 
ments." 

Queen Mary was not a success on the stage, was it? 

" No. It was a failure, though Henry Irving introduced it 
to the public." 

Have you any suggestion as to theme for poetry now ? 

" I think the returned soldier whose life has been trans- 
formed by seeing such visions as the angels at Mons should 
be immortalized." 

If angels have been assisting our men at Mons, why not 
at other places on the battle line? 

" They have been assisting, but not in such tangible form." 

Are astral hosts assisting also our foes? 

" They were, but astral forces from the plane which sent the 
angels to Mons were stronger in force than lower astral forces 
which would help the foe, from lower planes." 

Who was leading the angel forces from your plane? Was 
it Kitchener? 

" No ; Lincoln. Kitchener was, I believe, not here then. 
That was a test question." 

I did not think of it as such. I forgot he was not dead then. 

" I said, in answer to your question as to what I regarded 
as my greatest poem, the latter part of In Memoriam, because 
of Arthur Hallam, and besides the great vision I had as even 
the prophets of old when they saw the throne of God. 

" Arthur is here with me. He will speak briefly, for 
Arthur was a genius and a lover-man, as he is now a pure- 
thinking astral comrade." 

You wrote more verse for the state than Wordsworth did 
when he was the Laureate of England. 

" But I accepted the Laureateship at the earnest request of 

146 



LITERATURE— POETRY 

Gladstone, and told him I regretted doing so. I wanted to 
remain simply Alfred Tennyson, but the position neither in- 
spired nor retarded my work." 

The position would have gone to the bow-wows if you had 
not accepted it. 

"As it has gone to them now. What was written on the 
death of King Edward of great quality? " 

Nothing. 

" And when Kitchener left those shores, a Canadian wrote 
immortal lines, not the Laureate. My Ode to the Duke of 
Wellington and my Charge of the Light Brigade have many 
like themes in your present tragic times. . . . 

" The basis of all poetry is mysticism." 

Do we not make a mistake when we class the great Germans 
of genius such as Goethe, Schiller, Heine, Herder, Wagner, 
etc., with the military Germany of to-day? They were not 
Prussians and there was no empire then. 

" There is in the earth plane another plane or nation. This 
plane is one of great men, a country to which they come when 
they attain certain vision. When great men come to this plane, 
they know no country, nationality, or creed ; they belong to the 
democracy of the universal. 

" Frederick the Great was the primal cause of the present 
war. He left an impress on the ether of Germany that has 
poisoned all his followers not only mentally, but even physic- 
ally, as German modern history shows." 

You mean that there is a certain heaviness about the Ger- 
mans! 

" It is the brute force in man." 

I am trying to vindicate the great geniuses of the old days. 

" Hence my definition of a world within a world. Now, 
Elizabeth will speak, but I will return. Was I helpful? " 

Delightfully and subtly helpful. Thank you. 

147 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

It appears that all the inhabitants of the Twentieth 
Plane are potentially poets. Not that they are writ- 
ing, or ever have written, poems in every case, but in 
the sense that they all feel that nature is the expression 
of the joy and wisdom of the Universal Heart, they 
are all poets, they are all philosophers. They do not 
publish books of verse as we do, but the whole life of 
the Plane is athrill with the full realization of the 
central truth of the poet's immemorial dream. 



148 



" Live in an atmosphere of rich simplicity." 

— William Morris. 

" The thing which reveals all has finished its story. Thus, 
its strength, to that extent, is gone. But great things, which 
only half reveal, cause the spectator to use his analytical power 
to learn more ; thus he is more greatly impressed." 

— Benvenuto Cellini. 



I50 



ART 

This series of communications, always somewhat 
unusual, rose at times to a startling interest. Some- 
times, indeed, they were even astonishing. Such an 
occasion for surprise was the announcement made by 
our astral visitants that, while the astral body visits, 
during sleep, the Twentieth Plane, great artists such 
as Titian, Rembrandt and Tintoretto have made por- 
traits which are hung in the homes of that plane. 

It will be remembered that the astral body is said 
to be capable of separation from the physical, so that 
it visits loved ones either on astral or physical planes 
during dreams of exaltation, being meanwhile con- 
nected with the physical body through a sort of 
umbilical cord, which being by chance severed results 
in physical death. It was during such dream-visits to 
the Twentieth Plane that the following pictures were 
said to have been made. 

Wordsworth, who described to us most of the pic- 
tures thus produced by the brush of thought, ex- 
plained their quality and purpose as follows : 

May 2? — Wordsworth 
"All these pictures are designed to show 
i. The character of the person, 

2. The destiny, 

3. The symbolization of both character and destiny." 

The question of their permanency was discussed by 
Wordsworth as follows : — 

1.5 1 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

May 12 — Wordsworth 

Does Tintoretto use a brush ? 

" He uses the brush of thought." 

Are the pictures permanent ? 

"Until the subject through sin destroys them: then they 
fade." 

Is this fading temporary ? 

" The colours return when there is a return of the subject 
to a life of truth and reality." 

While we must not apply physical laws to the 
estimation of these portraits, we should, on the other 
hand, try to realize their substantial or actual nature. 
Such distinctions are valid throughout these dialogues. 
True, they can be understood only by a certain quality 
of mind, and while it is hoped that the present reader 
has such a mind, it may be well to warn others not to 
be too dogmatic by expressing the view that such a 
quality does not exist, or, if it does, that it ministers 
to confusion. 

First, then, I will give further instance where the 
astral body is said to have visited the Twentieth Plane 
during sleep: — 

May ii — Mother 
" My darling girl, it is with joy that Dora and I have watched 
the growth of your soul. Last eve when sleep led you to us, 
we welcomed your astral body. Your life is much finer and 
that is why one said ' her work is among human flowers/ ,J 

The first portrait was that of a young woman. 
This is Wordsworth's description: 

152 



ART 

"On a golden easel, bathed in a crystal light, shaded by 
filmy draperies of green, pink, and yellow; with a frame of 
jasper: a woman caught in the starlight's arms and tenderly 
deposited on a shore where the eternal sea ebbs and flows as 
the moonlight sonata. Her eyes are blue with depth of reason, 
passion, strength, purpose and intensity. In the curve of her 
arm, one sees the impulse of the tigress as she springs to rescue 
a baby in the jungle. On (her) cheeks is the blush of the 
maiden who first feels the mature forces of her being spring 
like lava to the surface. The body is all curves, all fully de- 
veloped, like a Venus de Milo ; and in the centre of this vision, 
I see a soul as true as the soul of a woman who died that the 
truth might live. This is she." 

Is it permitted to tell us who the artist is? 

" Rembrandt." 

For a time the members of our circle supposed that 
this would be the only portrait of which we should 
receive a report. But in a few days similar descrip- 
tions were coming till we had received about half a 
dozen of them. The next one to be described by 
Wordsworth, who seemed to be the specialist in this 
work, was the following: 

May 12 — Wordsworth 
"As the sun glimmers through a dell where a light is shaded 
by crimson, gold and green, on a white and pink surface canvas 
of the artist of the plane, is the Grecian form of one whose 
eyes look straight as light into the heart of things. We draw 
closer; the face is revealed. If Erinna and Sappho were to 
merge into one soul, they would be the soul of the portrait. 
See those arms, as of the Aphrodite in repose, that rounded 
bosom, white and pink with vitality, shoulders rounded like a 

153 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

crescent moon, the eyes pools of liquid splendour in which the 
glorious sky, dreaming, is reflected. Saintliness, purity, culture, 
strength, embodied in the artistry of Rembrandt. This is she." 

We next present Tintoretto's description of the 
portrait of a little boy, as painted by himself. 

May — Tintoretto 

" The sixteenth century dares to speak to the twentieth. I 
was the man who dared, so I speak. I will describe this picture 
as follows : 

" On a canvas as still and rosy as a sky reflecting love, 
one sees a little boy on the seashore. He lies all graceful as 
a bird talking love to its mate on the sands of time. His eyes, 
blue, are eternal inquiry. His cheeks tinted as the sacred 
cherub in my earth 'Adam and Eve.' The golden mellow 
colour of hope suffuses all. 

" We have tried to express the destiny of one who will reach 
an eminence commensurate with the teaching of this plane ; so 
along the shore is a path not yet disturbed by the sea waves. 
That path is full of rocks. Here and there is a cave, but the 
path is pure white. Pink is the side of the hills near it. This 
is devotion. Yellow lies the cave yonder — intellect. Golden 
sparkles of sunshine splashed indiscriminately all around, and 
in all is the atmospheric tone of the treatment. The purple air 
of divinity in the sky is a background. Squadrons of fleecy 
clouds, some large ones; a mountain of red, green, blue, and 
all lit with the eternal joy of the message he will express — 
the light of God." 

Dorothy 
" Tintoretto said he was glad to speak, and all here want to 
know what you think of the description." 

154 



ART 

It is a wonderful piece of imaginative description. 
" We say it is : as anything we have heard for days." 

Many beautiful word-pictures of portraits were re- 
ceived from time to time. These pictures conveyed, 
in few words, what otherwise would have required 
many words and much space to express. They are real 
efforts to picture, as vividly as possible, the images in 
the speaker's mind as created by observation of the 
portraits described. It is possible that, in some cases,, 
the elements of the picture are too elusive for our com- 
prehension. Such words as " astral," " etheric," etc., 
are not explained by scales or metronome. We need 
not only the senses, not merely the micrometer and the 
balance, if we would mix love and beauty with our 
lives and melt them to greatness after the similitude of 
Wagner's observation. 

I present now a description of the portrait of a 
mystic: 

June 22 — Wordsworth 

" I will read now, the prose portrait, in words of Rembrandt, 
of a mystic : 

" In an alcove where a purple light is filtered through a lace 
tapestry, is seen sitting, surrounded by symbols of books, a 
Jewish altar, a crystal such as Egyptians used in olden days; 
a young man robed in white, who is gazing into the crystal with , 
a light in his eyes and an expression on his face as if a soul 
had been painted while surveying the knowledge on the monu- 
ments and in the law-tracks along which the universe rushes 
to fulfil its higher purpose in the life of the ages. Rembrandt 
has pictured this youth as the microcosm seeing the macrocosm 

155 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

of universal agitation and action. I see that sky, that 
purple radiance, stars of gold, trees, rocks, valleys, rivers, and 
in all and through all, the golden sheet of divine love. These 
are the surroundings as Rembrandt actually saw them one 
starry night, when this plane at rest welcomed another mystic, 
another crowning glory of the race." 

In this description, as read by Wordsworth, it 
would seem that Rembrandt had himself described 
the portrait and that Wordsworth was merely reading 
it to us, but as Wordsworth often asked us what we 
thought of his description, when he had finished it, I 
am inclined to think that Rembrandt had simply been 
interpreted by Wordsworth, as the great painter 
spoke in the universal language of his art. This was 
the case at least in most of the descriptions read by the 
greatest of nature poets. 

Of the four portraits already described, three are 
said to have been painted by Rembrandt. The next 
one is also by him, and is the last one of his portraits 
described up to the time of closing this volume. This 
is the portrait of a young woman : 

June 2 — Wordsworth 
" Nestling as quiet as she is in the group of earth astral 
bodies painted here by Titian and Rembrandt, on an easel of 
red gold ore construction, is to be seen the glory-painting of 
Rembrandt's art, as he dreamed of a girl, sweet, gentle, and 
the soul of things pensive. 

" The canvas is pure white, and the background reveds a 
sky as if each cloud were the tear-drop of an angel. In the 

156 



ART 

foreground, one sees half-revealed flowers, a fountain of astral 
crystal waters, and a lone palm tree. 

" The girl herself is seated on a bench near the sea. Her 
arm is on the back of the place she reclines on. It is long and 
sculptured to a state of perfection which would have been an 
inspiration to Angelo. The slightly stooping shoulders are 
delicately rounded in art curves like the curves of a swallow in 
flight. The hair is brown, as if Nature had taken the brown 
of apples, russet in their dress, and adorned the head of a 
maiden. The cheeks have a delicate hue, as if a blush had 
been caught when the maiden dreamed things of her heart, — 
secrets of him she loves. In the eyes slightly shaded one can 
see the outlooking soul all lit with education, strength of char- 
acter, and the delicate touch of the artist of life, whose dis- 
crimination in taste is almost perfect. 

" The atmosphere around all is one of pensive, deep-dream- 
ing love, and, in a sentence, one sees in this astral painting, 
the fresh, innocent maid, worthy to have walked in Eden, when 
mortals were so close to the divine. ,, 

Passing from Rembrandt, we come to the prince of 
colourists, Titian. If, in this case, the light and shade 
contrasts are less startling, the Venetian appears to 
have achieved a triumph of poetry, imagination and 
beauty, no less significant than that of the illustrious 
Dutchman. The portrait is that of a young woman 
in whom the fountains of her Art have not yet risen 
to their flood, but whose prospective genius will some 
day sweep with tremendous power to irresistible fame. 
Here is the interpretation: 

May 27 — Wordsworth 
"Upon an easel golden, on a cream-surfaced canvas, of 

157 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

silken angel's wing fabric, seated in the branches of a tree. 
She has all the coiled-up strength of a viper ready to seize its 
prey. This is to illustrate, in colour artistry, intensity. 

" This terribly intense strength is relieved by the artist, when 
he caused those eyes to reflect back to earth the inspiration 
mirrored in them, sent direct from an astral sky. 

" Pale purple is the atmosphere around tree and form ; and 
that long slender pale pink arm, pointing down, shows the 
fingers of the poet destined to write verse, which in the course 
of the golden river near by, will be word-pictures of placid 
river-flow, then the reaching of the cataract, and further on, 
the boiling waters of a whirlpool, and finally, the mother har- 
bour home of peace, serenity, love and God- wisdom. 

"All this, he of light, colour and shadow, has epitomized on 
canvas, and it rests on a Morris easel, in a frame tinted per- 
fectly, and in harmony with all the oriental splendour only 
dreamed by Cleopatra before she bade farewell to the Egypt 
she loved so well. ,, 

Another portrait by Titian presents a young 
woman, restless, brilliant, inspired; one who repre- 
sents apparently the genius of the Twentieth Plane 
as it functions in the Twentieth Century Woman of 
the coming age, the age of the new year of the world, 
the renaissance of liberty that shall lift Woman to 
her mightier seat where, enthroned beside man — The 
New Man of the reconstructed civilization — she will 
build altars to worthier ideals than our fathers ever 
dreamed. 

May 27 — Wordsworth 
"Here, we see, on a smooth-surfaced fabric whose shell- 

158 



ART 

like bosom reflects every shade of colour passing in the soul 
of an artist, the form of a woman-warrior. She stands erect, 
bosom out, head back, her hair floating straight back in the 
violent wind that surges through her locks. She has one foot 
advanced, in one hand a parchment roll, and this all alight with 
a crimson sky above. 

" Those eyes are orbs of intellect. The parchment is the 
scroll on which, by means of faint tints, is depicted the 
prophetic light of shadow and colour, blending together to give 
utterance to the story graphically told that she will be the fire- 
bringer of knowledge, and emphasizing the lessons for the ad- 
vancement of mankind. 

" The background shows hills of gold, valleys of sleeping, 
softly-diffused purple. We see, too, the mouth of a cave whose 
entrance has an indescribable aura-light, which reflects on 
the side of her, telling those who look, this is faith's form; 
and in that little lake, near by, of love, a faerie's shallop whose 
sails are tears, and whose rudder is in the current of swift- 
flowing life. 

" This lake and ship graphically depict that she is one whose 
knowledge and literature will sail to the harbour of souls, 
quietly on to the confines of the earth. 

" The frame was made in Egyptian Sphynx and Pyramid 
style; gray, blue, brown, mellowed with age, but all showing 
the eternal joy of everlasting life." 

We now leave the artists of the earth, and revel in 
the enjoyment of a new sensation. In order to make 
this explanation clear, the reader will recall that some 
of the earth people are reincarnations, while others are 
born here, the product of protoplasm derived from 
planes other than the earth. Great vistas loom on the 

159 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

horizon here, but we must resist the temptation to 
digress. That which bears on our present purpose is 
the fact that while personalities on the Twentieth 
Plane are in some cases derived from other planes, 
(just as on the fifth plane, we too have reincarnations 
of persons from planes above the tenth;) other per- 
sonalities are born there, never having lived before on 
any other plane. 

These people of the Twentieth Plane are described 
somewhat by Dorothy in the following dialogue: 

June 28 — Dorothy 

" William wants to describe a portrait painted by an artist 
not of any plane but this. He has been always here. His 
name is Eligab." 

You say he has never been on any other plane. What, then, 
was the manner of his beginning? How was he born? 

" By a peculiar birth which rarely happens here. He simply 
came to us as protoplasm is used on your plane." 

Can you tell us what happened from five minutes before his 
birth till five minutes after? 

" I can only describe it as if a ball of material unrolled into 
astral body formed. This is not the law here — a very rare 
exception. Some are teachers here who are only of this 
plane." 

June 28 — Wordsworth 

"We enter a room reserved for full-length portraits of 
sages. We see the hardly dried colours. On the background 
of pure white, a man in robes of purple, on whose forehead is 
a vivid star. He stands close to a column of marble. Near 

160 



ART 

him is an old Grecian hour-dial. Back farther again is the 
broken column of a portico. 

" On the earth in every direction, rolled tightly, some bent 
slightly back, others unrolled, are many parchment rolls. 

" The artist has used Twentieth Plane artistry and genius 
to show in the man, as contradistinguished from his surround- 
ings, form, proportion, strength, and those curves of body 
which show character. 

" The shoulder, like Demosthenes', as seen in earth statue, 
is bare. It is . . . muscular, well rounded, and that 
curve, perfect as a figure in Geometry, shows how the artist 
soul of the man naturally feels and then walks straight down 
the path that leads to the creation of masterpieces. His eyes 
gleam poems ; his hands show the softer womanly instincts of 
the soul attuned to greatness. 

" The body shows all over massive strength, the sublime, the 
heroic. 

" There is a strange, weird, dreamy colour hovering around 
those eyes, delicately cast by the infinite genius of a painter of 
this plane : a suggestion by the grouping of colour shadows of 
the greatest imagination one has seen in a visitant to these 
shores of higher life. That imagination is as if he whom we 
paint was just caught on the wings of imagination, and lifted 
to where he hears sphere music. 

"Around his head a halo. Not the halo of the great prophet 
paintings done so well by an Angelo or a Raphael and others, 
but the halo of his own aura almost on fire with the contempla- 
tion of things of this plane, after the spirit bathed in earth life 
comes to this place and partakes of our crystal baths. 

" This is the portrait of a sage. No more could be said." 

One more portrait by Eligab was described by 
Hartley and this is the last. Hartley, with his usual 

161 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

vivacity, introduces his description with a humorous 
reference which would indicate that he regarded some 
member of our circle as a strict disciplinarian. 

August ii — Hartley Coleridge 

" My friends, I come in as mannerly as an Eton boy in Eng- 
land, when the head master stands with cane in hand. I read 
from thought tablets before my gaze now : 

" We enter the chamber in which great portraits of those 
still living on earth plane are kept. We look casually around. 
Our attention is attracted by other more prominent and real- 
istic paintings, but as we muse in this gallery of astral art, we 
linger almost without thought. 

" On a wall, in a pearl, gold, and turquoise frame, a por- 
trait of a woman about to plunge into a crystal bath. We see 
her delicate form beneath gauze drapery which adorns her. 
It has that beautiful delicate interior of sea shell tint which 
recalls the colour on the cheek of love. 

" She stands hesitating on the water's edge. She is slightly 
inclined, just ready to dive. The curves of her form and the 
inclination of her neck are as wonderful as anything we have 
seen in this gallery. 

" She is standing on the shore, and the sun reflected in each 
particle of sand sends intermixed silver radiance which seems 
like a sleeping-robe of angel fabric that has just settled down 
to the shore and not yet found a, clinging place. 

" The sky is blue while fleecy clouds far in the background 
are seen dimly like the tops of distant mountains. 

" Now we are nearer to the portrait, we examine it with 
closer scrutiny. We see an expression on the face of half 
puzzled wonderment as if the eyes would ask the way to go. 
We see hands with long beautifully tapering fingers as if the 
hands would ask, what shall we encounter when we take the 

162 



ART 

plunge? Eligab explains to me that the picture is intended to 
describe hesitancy and wonder. Her life expression here will 
remove that hesitancy but will expand its soul wonder." 

If we turn from the art of painting to that of 
Architecture, we are still in the realm of beauty. We 
are still busy in the purpose of the people on the 
Twentieth Plane — the revealment of their life. We 
shall quote here a scene-description, symbolical in its 
meaning. It is all the more effective that it is intro- 
duced by Mother and Dorothy on a rainy morning 
when fragrant blossoms perfume the air. 

May 26 — Mother 
" My boy Albert, this morning of love, when the waters of 
heaven carpet the floor of your world, we come to greet and 
love all your group. I will leave at once. Dora is here," 

It will be necessary to explain that the following 
description of the home of the Mother-Group was 
given by Dorothy through the Instrument while in 
trance. No stenographer was present, and I took the 
notes given below. They are fragmentary, but the 
essentials of the description will be grasped quite ac- 
curately by the reader if he will supply such particles 
as may be omitted and make up with easy exercise of 
his imagination what the printed words suggest. He 
cannot go far astray, since these fragments suggest 
the message quite accurately. 

May 26 — Dorothy 
" I, Dora, use the voice of an earth-Instrument to speak the 

163 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

plain, sweet words that are prayers, that they may be helpful 
to you all. 

" The people we are constitute the home in which we dwell. 

" In the place in which we dwell, we have a room assigned 
to us. There is not an object in it. The walls and ceilings 
are of glass; the floor is plain. . . . 

"We furnish the room by instantaneous thought. The 
same thing is done more slowly on your plane. 

" The home of the Mother-Group is long, narrow . . . 
has but one floor ... no up-stairs in homes here, but the 
roof is so high up we can hardly see it. There is no hall- 
way. . . . Sixty large French window-doors. . . . These 
are draped with magnificent tapestries. . . . 

" The dining-room . . . long table. . . . We take 
turns in sitting in the honoured place. . . . The table is of 
a clear . . . Jacobin legs . . . twisted. 

" The windows are tinted very light greenish with other clear 
colours. ... 

" We believe in laughter and happiness. . . . 

" Smaller rooms . . . places of soul-rest . . . bed- 
rooms, beds whose mattresses are soft quilts of silk that could 
be pulled through a ring. . . . Quiet slumber which is in- 
spiration and rest. 

"Walls are of onyx and jasper. . . . Steps of all the 
colours of an aura. . . . 

" On our main entrance there is no door. . . . No 
hall. . . . No stairs. . . . Any may pass immediately 
to the heart of the home. We have no heating apparatus. 
. . . Our average temperature being no° Fahr. You will 
ask, would such a temperature enervate? It is altogether a 
case of pre-development. No soul could reach this plane that 
would fall back. 

" Ten chairs and ten plates, more than are necessary for 

possible guests. 

164 



ART 

" When we seat ourselves, we bow our heads and repeat no 
words, but thankful prayer is in our hearts. . . . 

" We have one room . . . called the inspiration-room. 
In this room hang the pictures we have painted in words for 
you. . . . 

" We have paper . . . write on it . . . destroy it, 
but we know by the glory of the aura and gleaming eyes that 
he who has just emerged has had a great, inspiring time. 

" Now I will quietly gather astral robes of white, and sub- 
side into the light." 

On the same day William Morris described to us 
some of the furniture and decorations of the Twen- 
tieth Plane. 

May 26 — William Morris 

" I am indebted, kind ladies and gentlemen, for permission 
to enter here. I will seat myself in a Morris chair and be at 
home." 

" Now I feel we are brothers. I did on earth want people 
to understand these two laws of life, the life beautiful: 

1. Combine utility with beauty. 

2. Live in an atmosphere of rich simplicity. 

" Here we have furniture too. Shall I describe some ? 
Robert Louis Stevenson is sitting in a chair I created by 
thought. The chair is simply a back, seat, and legs; but the 
back moves in motion as one moves. Here all things of utility 
conform to personal use, even as the winds conform to endless 
shapes on the earth plane. 

"We have substantial shrines of Art here: to wit, your 
mother's home. It is permanent; has been for centuries, but 
this is of note. We often sweep out of our homes the articles 
in them and slowly recreate new things of beauty, such as beds 
shaped like shells, chairs like a sunflower, window sills like 

165 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

sands golden-heated by the intense sun, cheffoniers all glass- 
like with drawers that open as noiselessly as the fall of a flower 
petal. We have rugs something like a blend of fur, silk, and 
the kashmir of Arabia. We have here hooks to hang head 
gear on made out of crescent moonbeam shadows, and I could 
go on forever enumerating these external objects of beauty. 

" Our walls are made of glass, and as one dreams, thinks, 
loves, lives, the life is pictured on the wall as mural decoration, 
a moving picture of the tenants. 

" Stevenson, when he left the Islands of Hawaii to come to 
this plane, brought with him the ukulele. He brought also 
the native song of the isle but improved it, and often we hear 
him when alone. His tonal pictures pierce us to the quick. 
His eye has the same wistful expression it had in Samoa. He 
had that listening attitude, as if he heard far off the call of one 
telling him her love. His is a soul like the ocean in sleep — 
boundless power, vast imagination, full-bosomed" emotion and 
the consciousness of wisdom ; such is the soul of Louis. . . ." 

As no more suitable place is likely to be found for 
a musical reference than the present one, we shall use 
it here, especially as it serves to introduce a compara- 
tively longer portion of the dialogue than usual. 
There is no need at any time to omit portions for any 
other reason than that they are somewhat too personal 
to be printed. Where trivial converse is introduced 
by our astral friends it is for the purpose of relief 
from too much continued concentration. The reader 
is referred, however, for almost continuous dialogue 
of some length, to the chapter on Poetry, and also to 
that on The Quest of Reality. The following dia- 
logue contains some elements not strictly on Art, 

166 



ART 

either music or painting, but these are included so as 
to give continuity and solidarity to the text. The 
hiati are usually personal : 

May ig — Mother 

''Albert, my boy, this evening, when Love enters the home 
of Wisdom, I draw nigh to the soul of my soul — my son. 
Speak to me." 

Are you well and happy as usual, Mother? 

" No, not as usual. I feel, as we all feel, each day, week, 
month, nearer to the Heart of Things. We take each time a 
forward step. Dora will speak this evening, if that is agree- 
able to the company." (An affirmative was the answer.) 

May 19 — Dorothy 

" Oh, I am so glad to come again to the author of the later 
Triad. . . . The poem will develop to print as the sun 
ripens flowers to greet the day. . . . 

" I have the very great pleasure to tell you something that 
will please you. . . . One from the higher planes will 
converse at once. Who do you think it is ? . . . 

" I see the name is not in your consciousness. It is Wagner, 
so ask Louis to read . . . Wagner at once, to get the vibra- 
tions exact." (Reading.) 

May 19 — Wagner 
" Gentle sirs, and ladies too, I speak the message of music. 
Besides being an essayist, poet, and musical composer, I was, 
as one said, the Shakespeare of music. . . . 

" I was impetuous, galloped to high thought, so I will tell 
you something of the music language. 

" The forest heaving in the storm as if the whole army of 
trees of oak had a music of groans, sighs, long drawn out 

167 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

complaints; but the scene shifts, as in Isolde, then comes the 
soft morn; the sky is tinted with rose; a chicken crows; in the 
distance a door slams ; the milk-boy carries his pail to the cow ; 
the birds sing; the light is stronger. Up comes the sun — all 
nature hails the day emerging into fuller light. Now trees, 
chickens, boys, the sky, cows, winds and all activity is a lan- 
guage. Music simply takes this language, reduces it to time, 
tunes it to a higher rate of vibration, then, in measured notes, 
tuned with harmonies, using discords, too, and all the technique 
of the musical art, translates life into song." 

What is the difference between music on the plane where 
you live and the music of ours? 

"A difference between the subject of inspiration only." 

That is, the inspiring theme is the main difference? 

" Yes. To Cosima, I composed a choral piece, and Cole- 
ridge says William will now describe that choral." 

May iq — Wordsworth 

"If diamonds, turquoises, rubies and emeralds were dis- 
solved in a glass of love, and the liquid harmony poured into 
an angel's lap, and each dissolved jewel could, in this com- 
plete coalescing to a liquid pure white, tell a poem too deep for 
human ears, then you would obtain only a fraction of the rich 
soul-wonder of this choral." 

Has Cosima any knowledge of this ? 

" She is here now." 

May 19 — Wagner 
" Bayreuth is often in my mind, and in the theatre Here it is 
astralized. I came here to superintend one of my productions." 
Which one was it? 
" The choral to Cosima." 

I did not know that Cosima had passed over. I had not 
heard of her death. 

168 



ART 

"If the physical body is living, yet the soul has flown. We 
do not know, but Cosima is here. We know that. Frequently, 
however, the soul is here before the body is defunct. Some- 
times you say he or she is in second childhood." 

Is Lizst on your plane ? 

" Yes ; he is here now." 

Have you seen Mendelssohn ? 

" Yes ; on the plane of my residence. 

" Now, sacred friend of the Nieblung, I will say that . . . 
Wagner contains my soul. . . . We are indebted, and 
even some of us are still in the part where things melt to 
greatness." 

Here is an instance, like many others in this series 
of investigations, where the subtle purpose of the com- 
municating intelligence did not transpire until weeks 
after the message came through. When Wagner 
says " Some of us are still in the part where things 
melt to greatness," his allusion was to the following 
words which had been read by the Instrument, at his 
request, in the Wagner monologue: 

I fling my own 
Hot heart into the crucible of truth, 
Mix with the subtle alchemy of love, 
And set it deep into the fiery heart 
Of Being. When the whole is now become 
Transparent as the eye of innocence, 
I pour it into moulds of mightiest Art 
To fill the soul of all the years with song ; 

That his words were a reference to this " part " of 
the reading we had so recently listened to did not 

169 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

occur to any of us till I copied the notes for this 
volume five weeks later. 

Benvenuto Cellini, after giving his teaching on 
Sculpture, added a message from Mozart which was 
nothing more nor less than a brief definition of music. 

June 16 — Mozart 

" Music is that high form which inspiration reaches when 
the vibrations of time harmonize with the song of universal 
life. 

" That is, the Universe, as a lullaby to its soul, has a song 
that it forever sings, and when your inspiration vibrates in 
regular time with this greater song, you, too, hear music which 
you express." 

Immediately after this, Cellini introduced the mes- 
sage of another great musician : 

June 16 — Weber 

" Children of the immortal, Music is the handmaid of poetry, 
for one is colour in prose, the other is colour in aural prose. 

" Music is the inspiration of deeds. It is universal in its 
appeal. It is the river of God's love flowing through souls 
heated in the chase. It is a great elemental wind of the divine 
breathing in music-prayer the adoration of mankind to Him 
who is the Source of Being. 

" I want to ask if any here know my Invitation to the Dance. 
It was my dearest work, personally speaking. Sometime when 
it is played in your hearing, think of Weber." 

Dorothy introduced Shelley the following week, 
and he gave us a description of a scene at daybreak. 

1 70 



ART 

This passage shows somewhat of the symbolism which 
is so constantly in evidence on the Twentieth Plane: 

May 26 — Dorothy 

" The thing we are particular about is to fathom your wishes 
this day. Shall it be a time of ravishing beauty or of deep 
philosophy? Shall Percy come now, or Samuel with his 
mature inspiration ? " 

Could we have some words from both ? 

May 26 — Shelley 

" I come lightly, blithely, serene as the singing of rain wfien 
it kisses flowers asleep. 

" I will now describe a scene here just as morning breaks. 
A little child sleeping on a silken couch awakes from dreams 
of play, and looks towards the sun as it rises yonder. Then 
the deeper pink of an aura radiance in which the soul of the 
child blends with the increasing light of day. As notes when 
timed give the quartette harmony of mind, these, all together, 
sing the praises of the new-born day. 

" The child is very young and tender, eyes wide open to 
receive knowledge as it flows in, irresistible as the ocean. He 
is a babe in wisdom, but as daylight here deepens to the pale 
rose twilight, the child knows what your earth plane ones of 
age never know until inspiration kindles the pent-up flames. 

" The child, and the day, and the light, and the desire to be 
kissed by God are the things one must live in to realize that 
beauty, wisdom and childhood are the golden rungs in the 
ladder which angels climb to come to the home of Mary." 

Which Mary ? 

"All the Marys who know Jesus." 

The plan observed in this volume as directed by the 

171 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

Publication Committee, divides the communication 
from Richard Mansfield, the illustrious actor and 
dramatist, into three parts which go into three dif- 
ferent chapters, one part being found in the chapter 
on Principles of Life, another will be found in the 
chapter on Eloquence, and the third must find a place 
here. 

No phase of these communications has received a 
smaller credence than those which take the form of 
prediction. Prophecy, necessarily, and no matter 
who is the prophet, or how divinely inspired, appears 
to me to be conditional, a fact not generally realized. 
All causes, being effects of other causes, may be sub- 
ject to a chain of results set in motion far from the 
finality in question. Thus a predicted event may fail 
to take its place in history because a far antecedent 
cause was disturbed in its course of causative evolu- 
tion. The prediction of Mansfield is, however, of 
great interest in the world of Art, and we shall repro- 
duce it here: 

June 2 — Mansfield 

"Three great actors will reincarnate for earth plane, and 
they will play the dramas of a new generation of playwrights. 
^Esthetically, ethically, and in every division of fine life and 
thought, they will lift to a high level the stages of your plane. 

"After the war when all standards have been ripped to 
pieces, will come longing for a finer language ; a demand for a 
language of purity of rhythm and poetry. The poets will 
usher this new language to the people and the stage will adopt 
this song of expression." 

172 



ART 

Will the stage use poetry again in preference to prose ? 

" If it is great stuff, yes." 

It seems unnatural for an actor to speak a long piece of 
poetry on the stage. 

" Length or condensation is not the question. What is of 
moment is, is it the song of one soul to another, is it interest- 
ing ? The reason for my great earth success was the fact that 
I spoke with the true eloquence of naturalness. 

" Now you three men of big thought, and ladies too, give 
Richard some questions." 

The questions were given and Mansfield spoke a 
few minutes later of his method on the stage and of 
the state stage, subjects rising out of the questions 
asked by myself and our friends who were present. 
The address in trance is to be found on page 189. 

Two messages relating to the Art of Sculpture 
were received. The first was from Coleridge, and 
will appeal to all: 

March 17 — Coleridge 

Have you seen any of . . ,'s work? 

" Yes. . . . Sculpture is a medium of expressing force, 
motion, thought, rather than beauty. Here we leave beauty to, 
say, Rembrandt or Titian. In Sculpture it is essential to sug- 
gest great force. Do not try to tell your whole story in the 
work. Suggest always something more, and in all efforts 
throw yourself physically into the empyrean of complete 
abandonment." 

The second was from Benvenuto Cellini, who was 
introduced by Elizabeth Barrett Browning: 

173 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

June 16 — E. B. Browning 

" Now, the folks here have another great surprise. Whom 
do you think will speak ? " 

It would be hard to guess out of the people of all times and 
nations. 

" Well, he was a Florentine. It is Benvenuto Cellini." 

June 16 — Benvenuto Cellini 

" Men of earth plane, I am here, you there. I was a gold- 
smith and sculptor ; you are thought-smiths and book-makers." 

Book-wrights. 

" That is right. I was the builder in plastic forms of 
colossal subjects, was I not?" 

Some of your work in sculpture was colossal, I believe. 

"All." 

Is not Sculpture more suited to colossal work than to smaller 
forms ? 

" Michael Angelo said so. Now I will define great Sculp- 
ture : Sculpture, to be essentially great, is the permanent form 
of movement expressing a half-finished story, through all poses 
and expressions, in plastic art. 

" I said I was a sculptor of massive forms. Now, as a gold- 
smith, I (covered) all the art of miniature form, but always 
felt my soul cramped, so I threw it to the four winds, breathed 
boundless inspiration, and with bold strokes, swam to the shores 
of greatness. . . . 

" Sculpture always appealed to me as the art in which one 
was really an arch of form. 

" The mistake of the sculptors of time has been, they tried 
to tell a whole story in an imperfect medium of form." 

Sculpture gives, then, something like a cross section of a 
story ; does it not ? 

" In part, yes. But deeper still, there is this : psychologically 

174 



ART 

the thing which reveals all has finished its story. Thus its 
strength to that extent is gone. But great things, which only 
half reveal, cause the spectator to use his analytical power 
to learn more ; thus he is more greatly impressed." 

Da Vinci thought painting greater than Sculpture, did he 
not? 

" There is no degree in true Art. Look over the museums 
of your plane, and more than half of the greatest works of 
Sculpture will be found to be work of the imagination. But 
I refuse to discuss degree. One in its own field is as high as 
another in its sphere. Sculpture shows form and proportion. 
Painting illustrates, through illusion, a subject of inspiration 
or less than inspiration." 

It is fitting to close this chapter on the Art of the 
Twentieth Plane with the teaching of this creator of 
terrible beauty in colossal dreams of stone. We have 
passed from the pigments of Rembrandt to the home 
decorations of Morris, the harmonies of Wagner, the 
drama of Mansfield, and the sculptures of Cellini. 
Apologies are due to all of these for such scant com- 
ment, but the impact of their own beautiful messages 
is more effective than any words of mine could leave 
them. So let us pass on to another field of interest, 
but not without feeling that we have made some new 
friends, who, from the listening years have gathered 
up a few of their glories and their dreams, and spread 
them at our feet. 



175 



" The voice is a better instrument than the cold page." 

— Edmund Burke. 

" Nothing is worthy of utterance unless it teaches something 
high and noble. . . . The voice of your life will sing, and 
its singing will reach to the Master of Masters, and blend with 
His till all shall hear the divine song of your characters." 

— Robert G. Ingersoll. 



I 7 6 



ELOQUENCE 

Eloquence must be spoken; it cannot be written. 
It cannot be read. It cannot be recited. It cannot 
be orated or posed. This being true, we are not to 
expect the same thrill from the page that we derive 
from the molten images of truth that pour white hot 
from the heart of a speaker whose lips have been 
touched with fire from the altars of God. 

We have another apology to offer to our theme and 
also to those of the Twentieth Plane whose words are 
here so imperfectly reproduced. We found that our 
results were inexpressibly sensitive. Small circles 
were always much the most effective. If a stenog- 
rapher was introduced who was not in sympathy with 
the spirit of the circle and the astral group, the effect 
was not only noticeable, it was deplorable. It was 
not necessary that the lack of sympathy should be 
expressed. Even though silent as the grave, covered 
deep with smiles, decorated with culture, and polished 
with art and wile, the poison of a hidden prejudice or 
antagonism was as effectual as if it had been injected 
by declamation in the hearing of us all. 

This is not to be understood as meaning that we 
had no sympathetic stenographers. We had some 
who were most effective. But, unfortunately, we 
missed some of the best passages of some of the great- 
est speakers. The fact is that the speed of utterance, 
the inability always to secure sympathetic and ef- 

177 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

fective assistance, and on some occasions our unpre- 
paredness owing to the fact that we did not expect 
any trance-speaking to be printed, the Instrument not 
being fully developed for trance-speaking at the first, 
led to regrets which make these apologetic explana- 
tions necessary. 

In view of all these conditions and causes, we are 
compelled to present only paragraphs or, in some 
cases, mere sentences where we should have printed at 
least pages or more of the specimen oratory of some 
of our astral friends. A great number of the people 
of the Twentieth Plane spoke through the lips of the 
entranced instrument. Among these were Lincoln, 
Burke, Ingersoll, Edith Cavell, Poe, Shelley, Words- 
worth, Stevenson, Shakespeare, Beecher, Spinoza and 
several others. Since all of these spoke on at least 
one occasion long enough to supply the matter for a 
full chapter, it will be seen that we must restrict each 
to a few paragraphs and in the case of some who were 
worthy of our most liberal report, I regret to say that 
we shall be unable to present more than a few sen- 
tences. 

We shall report, first of all, some passages from an 
address which I took in long hand. We were at the 
close of the most exalted experience that has ever in- 
spired us throughout these investigations. All that 
is not too sacred for publication, — and I am sure many 
would not have published even this — is to be found in 
the last chapter of this report. 

178 



ELOQUENCE 

Edgar Allan Poe purported to speak through the 
Instrument in trance on May 12th. I am able to give 
only a few extracts, but those are verbatim : 

May 12 — Edgar Allan Poe 

" Gentle Friends ; Lovers, Comrades, who lift up your souls 
to the beings of this higher plane. . . . There may be 500 
Stradivarius violins. Each owner places a priceless value 
upon his own. . . . Each instrument is a portion of Stradi- 
varius, an expression of the perfection of the man he was, yet 
each instrument is a little different. . . . So it is with men 
and women, the violins created by God. . . . The Master 
Musician makes music on each, all together making one grand 
oratorio. . . . This graphic illustration is intended to 
show the meaning of spontaneity. . . . Mood is the basis 
of spontaneous inspiration. . . . One of the marks of the 
true poet is the power to be subject to moods as the silent lake, 
when the breezes play upon its bosom, flows on under the 
kisses of the moon. 

" First, then, decide upon your subject. Then live with it as 
with a loved ideal. Subjects are living and actual. After I 
had married myself to my subject, then I entered a place suf- 
fused with my own personality. . . . Think of books, 
flowers, music, etc. . . . 

" Breathe deeply. Realize Swedenborg's great law of the 
thought synchronizing with the breathing. Then throw your 
arm about the neck of your theme. 

" I would then throw myself into the current of high think- 
ing and great vision. The words would come then easily. 
. . . The greatest poems would have been greater if there 
had been less effort to be artistic. 

" What is the best form? Ask the subject of the poem. I 

179 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

would ask the subject of the poem what form she would love 
to be dressed in. . . . Be guided by spontaneity and mood, 
but style enters into the question here. . . . Learn a lesson 
from the ocean. It does not ask even its Creator what form 
or movement it shall take. . . . When one has to think 
long or deeply as to what form a poem is to take, one is be- 
coming a purist. . . . Like Walter Pater they show too 
much stiffness . . . not enough spontaneity. . . . The 
lords of Literature such as Shakespeare, Goethe, etc., are al- 
ways spontaneous. Be as natural as possible. 

" The sonnet form is great because it is condensed, or con- 
centrated. Energy has always been concentrated, strong. 
. . . Then there is boundless force. But if the poem is as 
the singing of a bird to his mate, it may be as long as the 
heart wills. 

" It is characteristic of people here that before leaving their 
friends, they paint for them a picture of their love. For words 
are living things, pigments, have intelligence. Take them, then, 
using the architecture of your capacity, and paint scenes that 
shall live. 

"Art and nature are one. . . . The acorn is planted. 
The earth loves it and it grows. ... It stretches to the 
heavens. Then it is called nature. It is cut down. It becomes 
the mast of a great ship. Then it is called Art. But it is still 
nature. 

" Edgar Allan Poe kisses the foreheads of you all. I feel 
the divinity of this hour. It has been an inspiration to me. 
Good-bye!" 

If the specimens of Twentieth Plane eloquence pre- 
sented in this chapter are largely concerned with 
poetry, philosophy, ethics and religious experience, 
the fault is chiefly mine. Throughout the researches, 

1 80 



ELOQUENCE 

I manifested little interest in things personal, indeed, 
as already stated, they were barred from the circle. 

Despite this attitude, many injunctions, statements 
of fact, predictions, etc., especially relative to the 
great war, were proffered without our solicitation. 
These were always welcomed as hospitably as other 
matters. But if the addresses and communications 
through the agency of the board are rather sesthetic, 
dealing with the fine arts, with ethics and philosophy, 
those on the Twentieth Plane are not to carry the 
responsibility. My reason for the course adopted 
was simply this: The intelligences who were in com- 
munication with us did not claim to be infallible or 
omniscient. In this respect they were like ourselves. 
Why then should we ask them about things in which 
we had evidence that they were much less interested 
than we naturally would be? They were, as com- 
pared with ourselves, experts on things concerning the 
Twentieth Plane. Here then was the field in which 
we should be their disciples. 

May 26th was probably our best night for elo- 
quence. Ingersoll spoke on Morning, Noon and 
Night, and Shelley on Lakes, Bays and Oceans. It 
will be noted by the reader that the latter, which is 
presented here first, treats of earth-experience, the 
former with the Twentieth Plane. 

May 26 — Shelley 

"As a young man intoxicated with the beauty of earth-life, 

181 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

I learned to love a certain bay and a most beautiful ocean, and 
since coming to this plane, enraptured by the spirit I saw amid 
the gorgeous hues of your combined auras, I have learned to 
love a lake. The bay is the Bay of Naples; the ocean is the 
broad Atlantic ; and the lake is the blue Lake of Ontario, loved 
by Walt Whitman. 

"As a young man on the physical plane, I loved all nature, 
but more especially some of the personalities I knew and recog- 
nized, as one here recognizes a friend. These personalities of 
nature I knew as I knew Harriet, as I knew Byron, as I knew 
Keats. 

" Often I would go into the forest, always near a lake if 
possible, lie down beneath a tree and allow its limbs to shade 
me from the sun, and there, with a book, lying on my bosom, 
I would drink in the beauty, the philosophy, and the wisdom of 
the greatest writers of time. 

" No matter how deep was my interest when on your plane 
in any question of philosophy, of beauty, of emotion, of revolu- 
tion, of the dawn of that democracy referred to in the immortal 
lines of what I regard as one of the best pieces of my work, 
the chorus in the poem Hellas, when I wanted solace and 
serenity, I would creep to the shores of a lake, I would lie 
down alone on the sands, and there hear the music of the 
waters as they sang their lullaby of rest, or a warlike encour- 
agement to greater effort. 

" My mysticism as a poet in earth life spoke in poems to 
lakes, rivers and bays. When I wanted to speak as a master 
of living beauty, with the delicate, ethereal, angel-like touch 
that was Shelley's, I would go to the Bay of Naples, and there, 
as the sun sank down on the bosom of that bay, were reflected 
tints that even a Tintoretto did not dream of in his most 
ethereal moments. When dreams wrapped the soul in a shroud 
of ravishing beauty, I would see there, reflected in the bay, 

182 



ELOQUENCE 

colours which it was my portion in life to paint. I have been 
able to take these reflected tints and paint the ideas thereby 
inspired in immortal language. 

" You read to-night some lines from Queen Mab : those lines, 
for instance, on death, they were inspired in me by the Bay of 
Naples. One could not look on Vesuvius ; one could not be in 
the mood of such serene beauty as is Naples, and her crown- 
ing glory, the Bay, without thinking of the theme of death, and 
so Queen Mab sprang into being. 

" When I wanted great deep comprehensive thought, I came 
to the shores of the ocean. There I saw boundless energy, a 
million Gibraltars focused before my eyes in the glorious 
Atlantic, as it heaved upward and forward in perfect time with 
cosmic energy. 

" The ocean teaches me something of science, something of 
the depth of inspiration, something of the very soul of God. 
It mirrors for me all fancy, all imagination, all beauty. It is 
the combined result of all the deep thought and inspiration of 
a God. One shall not doubt immortality when one has crossed 
but a portion of an ocean. 

"And now I come to the blue waters of Lake Ontario that I 
have seen from this plane, of which Walt Whitman has so 
eloquently written. On the shore of the blue waters of Lake 
Ontario nestles the city whose bosom bears an Indian name, 
and if I were permitted to vibrate to your plane another poem, 
or if I reincarnated and came down to earth again, I would 
write another Indian Serenade, this time to a city whose domes 
and cathedrals are worthy of this plane. 

" While on earth, one of the characteristics which I loved 
about myself was the quiet female-like stillness that came over 
me when I thought about great eternal things before I leaped 
and grappled with them and got their very soul, placing it 
deeply in lines of inspired poetry. 

183 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

" One of the things that the Divine ordained should be the 
gift of Percy Bysshe Shelley was that he should understand 
the beauty of a thing as instantly as did Keats, and paint with 
that beauty all the divine lessons learned by having had the 
deepest and the most passionate love. 

" There are few poets in any age. There have been but 
few poets in history. There are few poets of this Twentieth 
Plane. The poet is the most rare creation of the Divine. A 
great poet must be a prophet, a seer, a musician, the voice of 
the divine speaking with all the rhythm, metre, polish and 
finish of language. He must as well be the focus point to 
which all the arts and sciences have been directed. He is the 
mirror reflecting the highest aspiration and thought of any 
plane, and such a being I was. 

" To-night, in order to give you evidence that this is the poet 
once called Shelley, I have talked with feeling, with emotion, 
with philosophy of beauty, of experience, of things eternal and 
divine. 

" One thing I will refer to before I go. In this city whose 
bosom bears the Indian name, there are several groups of people 
who keep green in their memory the history of Percy Bysshe 
Shelley. One of these is in your room to-night. I appreciate 
all who ever read the lines I wrote, for these lines do not be- 
long to me ; they did not come from me ; I was but the humble 
instrument that penned these lines given to me by the eternal 
Source of all knowledge. This is my confession. Good-bye ! " 

After giving us the description reported on page 
143, Shakespeare gave us a brief trance-address on 
Genius: The conditions on this evening were not very 
good, and I am persuaded that the meeting was not a 
success for that reason. We shall therefore give 
merely a few sentences from that address. 

184 



ELOQUENCE 

May 6 — Shakespeare 

" Now, the hour-glass spills much sand, so I will in subdued 
light speak as the immortal urges me. 

"As courses time through all the valleys of the life of man, 
as the chariot dashed around the amphitheatre of old Rome, as 
the almost perfect youths of Greece entered into the games, let 
us with courage and noble emotion enter the amphitheatre of 
great thought. 

" Genius is that power which enables a man to do absolutely 
without effort what other men cannot do with the most in- 
tense labour and struggle. Genius is always spontaneous, as 
rapid as light, as free as a bird in the transports of a bird's 
pure life. . . . Genius cannot be explained. It can be illus- 
trated ; it cannot be demonstrated, because only the God of the 
Universe knows what genius is, and genius never tells. . . . 

" Nearly all geniuses entered your world amid the surround- 
ings of the crude and the humble. . . . The crude and the 
humble things of your environment are most in harmony with 
the great laws that sweep as do the fingers of the harpist the 
chords of a golden harp. . . . 

" Genius comes from higher planes. Millions of people and 
the mellowing influence of numbers of years are necessary to 
call forth that genius who will be a saviour to his or her age. 
The coming of a genius is an answer to the prayers of a popu- 
lation. The coming of a man who is a revelation to his age, is 
the answer to the conditions set up by the masses of the people. 

"All the elements of your age, with deep diffusion of im- 
mortal music, are calling for a genius who will lift humanity 
from the boundless gulf. I hear, far away, celestial music, 
murmuring, it shall be ; that prayer will be answered. . . . 
I shall speak through others often. I love you all." 

The effect of our communion with Shakespeare has 

185 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

been to make a personal dear friend of one who had 
long been nothing more than a mountainous per- 
sonality dwelling in the light unapproachable, a being 
quite beyond conception. Formerly, I studied him 
for profit, now I think of him because I love him, and 
often carry a pocket play with me so as to have him 
speak to me, for I delight in his company. 

We must now present some of the eloquence of 
Spinoza, who spoke at some length in trance-address. 
We shall have room for only brief portions of his 
theme: 

May ig — Spinoza 

" My own soul friends, I, Benedict Spinoza, called some- 
times in life, Baruch Espinoza, am here in answer to a current 
of thought . . . reaching me through the prayer of a 
sainted woman on the plane through which this message is 
sent. 

" I was born of Jewish parents. I was raised in an orthodox 
Jewish home. I was taken often to the synagogue and the 
' schule.' I read the Talmud. I studied deeply the char- 
acters of Old Testament history. I lived in an environment 
of deep — too deep — religion, the religion of Theocracy. Cer- 
tain circumstances, not accidental, brought me into the friend- 
ship of some of the greatest thinkers and philosophers of my 
day. Then, having to earn a livelihood, I became a grinder of 
lenses. 

" It may startle you when I tell you that I learned more 
from my occupation of lens-grinding of the meaning of God 
and the Universe than I did from the University, or from the 
Rabbis, or from the philosophical friends who were the com- 
panions of my manhood. 

1 86 



ELOQUENCE 

"As I sat by the hour learning lessons of humility, perse- 
verance and skill, grinding lenses which became the marvel of 
my day, I learned to think deeply on the great question of the 
material universe. I was engaged in an occupation which 
developed the soul. 

" Pantheism has been described, by those who do not know, 
as the worship of the physical universe. In that little red 
monumental wonder-book of all the ages, The Ethics of 
Spinoza, I tried to demonstrate that the universe and all that 
it contains is one. There is nothing that is not a part of God. 
If one is worshipping a tree — call him a Pantheist if you dare — 
he is worshipping God. If one sees divine strength and beauty 
in the ocean — call him Pantheist if you will — yet he is loving 
God. 

" William Shakespeare was somewhat disappointed that he 
did not answer the question of the scholar-girl, so I have been 
made a deputy to speak in his stead. Women like Sappho lost 
their freedom because man no longer believed the theory which 
I have enunciated to-night. When this was lost, men became 
the owners of women, and there came a time in the history of 
women when they did not think. 

"And so, in the ages, with a few brilliant exceptions, women 
performed the ordinary routine of the slave in the kitchens of 
their lords and masters — men. 

" But this could not last. Evolution cannot stand for such 
ignoble things, hence the illuminating influence of time, the 
awakening of the consciousness of women by inspiration direct 
from higher planes, and education, the outflow of the very 
works of Philosophy, wisdom, literature, painting and music 
of which men were the authors. 

" Fifty years hence men and women will associate in per- 
fect purity; they will think together, reason together. No 
avocation in which men with women cannot take part. There 

187 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

will be in the next fifty years, in your nation, almost perfect 
equality. 

" But woman has her specific, particular place, and man, his 
specific, particular place. Woman can scale a height different 
from man, and man will climb to a height woman cannot scale, 
because they are different. The God of the universe has im- 
planted in the soul of women the idea that men are their natural 
protectors. When a decision is to be made in a great crisis, 
men sometimes must take the lead. 

" When a woman deeply and truly loves a man, she feels 
now as she felt in the past, and will always feel in times to 
come, that flinging herself on his protection, he will be her 
refuge in a time of storm. Thus realization does not limit 
woman or lower man. It makes them feel all the tenderness of 
the conscious directing energy from all the planes which is 
endeavouring to teach the men and women of your plane, that 
man and woman are one only when they mutually respect, ad- 
mire and understand each other. 

" It may be of interest that Benjamin Disraeli was a re- 
incarnation of myself. When Benjamin Disraeli died, Spinoza 
came back to this plane. I reincarnated for a time that I 
might not be too deeply steeped in imagination and philosophy, 
but might learn the experience which actual contact with the 
people gives to great statesmen. 

" One other question. Can one realize that the universe is 
God and that God is the universe ? The way is simple, but the 
path is extremely narrow. There comes a time in the life of 
every man or woman when they feel that the physical body 
occupies one place and the soul has left the body and is occupy- 
ing another place. When the soul leaves the body, the soul 
itself can realize that the word ' I ' and the word ' Soul ' and 
the word 'Universe* describe the same thing. God is an 
energy which flows through all things. There is not a thing 

188 



ELOQUENCE 

in the universe in which, and through which, the Divine Energy 
we, for want of a better name, call God, is not eternally flowing. 

" The only difference between individuals, and between 
things, is the difference in realization. A great poet, through 
his imagination, realizes that ' I ' and God and the soul are 
one. Take this thought in the name of all the wisdom of all 
the planes. Abnegation of self is the great thing. Realiza- 
tion is the final essence of the thing to know. 

" Pantheism, then, can be defined as the realization that all 
is God and that God is all. When I am speaking to you to- 
night, it is part of yourself speaking to yourself. . . . Now 
I must go. It has been an unspeakable joy for me to be here, 
and I will come again. Good-bye." 

I have already included, in the chapter on Art, 
matters pertaining to Portraiture, Music, and that 
frozen music, Architecture, with some Shelleyan 
word-painting of landscape, and a glimpse of Morris 
Art-furniture. I am glad to be able to add verbatim 
notes of an address given through the Instrument in 
trance, by Richard Mansfield: 

June 2 — Mansfield 

" My distinguished friends : for all are distinguished who 
are sincere, I now allow my astral voice to articulate through 
the vocal organs of the medium, and so I address you — Richard 
Mansfield. 

M The important question has been asked me this evening : 
did I become the character I acted for the time, or was I 
merely endeavouring to portray him by imitating his voice, 
manner, gestures, etc. ? 

" Emphatically, then, I was the character for the time, which 

189 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

I represented and portrayed. That is, I mean, after I be- 
came a distinguished actor, I became always the character I 
assumed. 

" In the great days of Greek drama, no stage accessories 
were used. In my judgment, this was good usage. The stage 
should have as little that is external to the characters acting 
upon it as possible. Hence, I preferred to have little scenery. 

" The enacting of a great play by one fully developed in his 
art is the acting out, on the stage of his fancy, the character 
he is representing. 

" The character most pleasing to me was that of the gentle 
and kindly Dr. Jekyll, and his other self, the devil, Hyde. 

" How would you depict them ? you ask. Remember, the 
two had to be portrayed and lived, for the time being, before 
an audience, on the same stage and on the same night. 

"As Dr. Jekyll, kind, benevolent, pure-hearted, I filled my 
mind with thoughts of men of that description. I thought of 
Beatrice, who never turned any unfortunates from her door. I 
thought of Beatrice, the personification of all that a true 
woman should be. 

" Then I realized that all who had ever lived great noble 
lives have left on the ether of space an impress of those lives, 
and that impress has never perished. The same is true of the 
debased. Now, one can adopt that etheric impression, and 
make oneself a real reproduction of that character whose life 
produced and created it. 

" I denuded the stage of all unnecessary scenery, I gave it 
the weird, uncanny semblance a pale green light produced. I 
took on the etheric impress of a demon. I entered on the stage 
when and where I was least expected, and was discovered to 
myself and to my audience as the personification of a devil. I 
crouched down ; I stepped on my toes ready to spring. 

" That was Art. I was a demon, and those who know will 

190 



ELOQUENCE 

bear witness that nearly always when I acted that character, 
some woman had to be carried out in a fainting condition. 

" You have asked a practical question : should the state own 
the stage? 

" I wrote an essay — no, perhaps not an essay, but I spoke at 
any rate, and stated to an audience that the state should own 
the stage. One reason why the stage has been a partial failure 
is because it has been in private hands. Profits are the bane 
that destroys it. The private profit idea is the most damaging 
contrast between this plane and yours. Here, things are done 
for the glory of doing them. 

" In Greece, the whole nation were actors and actresses. 
The merit and the genius of the audience determine the status 
of the stage. The art of the actor cannot rise above the taste 
of the people and succeed. This is true. High Art refuses to 
stoop down to the baser levels of lower taste. All progress of 
the stage must be made in harmony with the principles of 
evolution. 

" One pathetic difference between the genius of Henry 
Irving and mine was the fact that he could attend banquets, 
make speeches, read favourite books, go into society, spend the 
day as he pleased, and perform equally well at night, whereas 
I never attained eminence without infinite labour and study. 
When the curtain went up, I was always in a panic of fright, 
and I never got over a certain nervousness throughout my 
whole life. 

" Those who spend endless effort to attain an eminence 
which others attain so easily are apt to ask the question: 
Where is the justice of it all? I want to say in this connec- 
tion that while we should take infinitely patient note of all 
actions, we still should say to ourselves, there never was an 
event in earth-life worth worrying about for a millionth part 
of a second. 

191 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

" I will come again. Now, I go back, slowly, silently, to the 
silken couches of rest. Good-bye." 

The Publication Committee names Ingersoll as the 
principal orator under whose auspices this chapter 
was to be prepared for publication. There will be 
those who delight in his type of eloquence. I once 
heard him lecture on Shakespeare, and the lecture was 
excellent. His style is more florid than that of the 
other speakers whose addresses are reported in this 
chapter. However, his theme is unpretentious and 
his treatment is simple and pleasing to a degree, and 
I am indebted for his contribution to these pages. I 
give him the place of honour in the chapter and com- 
mend to the reader his helpful and instructive words. 

May 26 — Ingersoll 
Morn 

" We waken in the morning very early, after deep, refresh- 
ing sleep, to look out of a crystal window and see the receding 
stars pull down the curtains of their chamber and retire to rest. 

" We rise from couches of refreshment, stand erect, throw 
back our shoulders, and, by a process of thought, let the winds 
of this sphere wash our faces clean, cause our thoughts to be 
reburnished, and, in the golden mint of God's love, the impress 
of His face again illumines the surface of our souls. 

" Morning on this plane is the children's hour. Now, as if 
led by imagination's hand, take mine, and we will witness the 
march of the children as, in the early hour of the morning, they 
act their praises to the Source of all greatness. 

" See, then, with me, a long white path leading to the forest. 
We stand to one side, look far on into the distance and, before 

192 



ELOQUENCE 

we see, we hear the music — the bugle voices of children singing 
in chorus. We see great regiments of them coming on, hand 
in hand, along that part of the path which we are observing. 

" This path has on either side many trees of astral plane 
life; their branches overarch the path. The weeping willow, 
the stately poplar, the maple, the magnolia, all reach their arms 
towards this path, link arms, and in the pale pink twilight of 
this plane, amid these arms of tree-love, the shadows deepen 
and throw silhouettes along the path, splashing golden-pink 
radiance around the little forms of children as they march un- 
der those arms. 

"At a word of gentle command, the children stop marching. 
They are told to listen. They are listening to the language of 
trees, the language of flowers, and the emotions of the tender 
little blades of grass. For, on this plane, we have another sense 
developed in our astral bodies. Walt Whitman, as Dr. Maurice 
Bucke once said, could go to the window of his shack and hear 
that little music made by the blades of grass. 

" On this plane, the children can hear the trees and the grass 
as it sways rhythmically back and forth in perfect harmony with 
the feeling of life. The grass also expresses grass emotion. 

"A signal is given, and the children walk on till they come 
to a great clearance in the forest. They sit in a circle with 
their teacher in their midst. . . . 

" The children retrace their steps. They greet each creature 
they meet, and their laughter must have been caught from the 
strains of immortal music that float from the divinest orchestra 
that mortal ears ever listened to. For there is a music in the 
laughter of children on this plane; there is a beauty in the 
mellow light of this world in which we live ; there is a divine, 
deep philosophy of the tenderer, nobler life of this sphere, 
especially in the air of morning. 

" Now the children come home again, where happy play will 

193 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

perfume all the air with the expression of their little child life 
and effort. And we, the older ones of this higher plane, at 
this middle part of an astral day, will learn our lesson of things 
of greater worth where life and love hold sway, and God is 
worshipped because we realize here that we are part of God, 
and He is all that we see and feel and touch and realize. 

Noon 

"After partaking of a meal on this plane, with the music 
of a voice we call to our sides those friends whom we love, 
then, with our long white garments kissed by the breezes, as 
true brothers and sisters, we march serene, erect, happy, noble 
and free, to the Hall of Learning. The path leads down 
through a broad forest of whispering trees straight to the 
entrance of the Hall. 

" We walk along this path, and hear, as I do, the neighing 
of pure white horses in a pasture reserved for those horses 
that have come into contact with human beings. You hear, as 
I do, as I pass by an astral home, the sweet lullaby song of a 
mother, as she rocks gently to rest the soul of a child she has 
taken to nurture. If you could hear, as I do, the tinkle of a 
guitar played by a maiden sitting on the piazza of another 
astral home ; if you could hear wafted to your soul, such music 
spilled over in its expression of emotion and love as she gives 
to the perfumed air, the inspired strains of her silent song, 
then you would be able to understand the celestial smile on the 
faces and on the brows of every one here, as we walk to the 
Hall of Learning, would know then what astral life on the 
Twentieth Plane means. 

"Another vision : I call to the little cherubs, I call to Pan, I 
call to all the sainted inspired ones who haunt the forests at 
night, to come and paint for me a scene of the Hall of Learn- 
ing, so that physical human beings can see partially, as one 

194 



ELOQUENCE 

looking into the dim glass of an unpolished mirror sees a 
shadow of the face looking into that glass. I will try to paint 
for you the scene that we witness daily at noon in the interior 
of the Hall of Learning. 

"We walk down a vast aisle. An instrument which you 
would call an organ, but for which we have another name, 
shakes the vast Hall of Learning to its foundation with great, 
sharp, staccato, then long-drawn-out sounds, vibrations that 
spell chaos. 

" Through the large tinted windows, on which are to be seen 
portraits such as Tintoretto and others have described to you, 
appear varied hues, beautiful as the most gorgeous life of the 
tropical regions of your plane. 

" We do not take our seats, for we learn here that standing 
gracefully at ease, swaying backwards and forwards, as in the 
marshes the reeds are sometimes swayed backwards and for- 
wards on your plane, we keep time in breathing and in thought 
to the strains of the music and the vibrations of the tinted light 
as it flows from the windows of this House of Learning. 

"At a given signal, we stop breathing for a fraction of time. 
This is to concentrate our attention and the thought of our soul 
on the speaker on yonder rostrum ; then in perfect unison, more 
perfect than was ever dreamed of by the musicians, we breathe 
deeply, equally, inspiredly, together, and we drink in the in- 
spiration of the speaker of the day. 

Night 
"As in the depths of the ocean the sea fish finds its home, 
where the deep currents sway ever onward, so we are, either 
actually or in imagination, deep down in the solemn stillness 
of the inner court of the Hall of Learning. As the under 
currents of the ocean keep perfect time with the laws of 
nature, so, breathing deep and thinking high, we keep perfect 
time with the speaker on the rostrum, for night has silently 

195 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

descended over this part of the astral plane, and the stars in 
the sky have pulled up again the curtains of their chambers, 
and a soft mellow light comes with quiet rest. 

" The speaker is on the great question of astral plane ethics, 
the study of the beautiful and the sublime as it reveals itself 
in the school of perfect equity and justice. I have neither 
time nor strength to vibrate to you his noble words ; but behold 
him standing there like the hand of an inspired prophet point- 
ing to the heavens. He is high strung and of a nervous tem- 
perament. His voice is as musical as the love voice of a vast 
lake for a little meadow brook that flows by its side. His 
personality is radiant with the language of inspiration. For 
inspiration is a language of things we hear in the environment 
and, deeper still, in the homes of our souls. 

" So all these vibrations deepen to a climax of intense white- 
hot action and thought, and as the speaker gradually brings his 
oration to a close, subside into the quiet of evening as a mother 
rocks her baby in the hammock of her arms, listening to the 
beating of her own heart. The vast jasper-like doors of this 
cathedral move back; white filmy tapestries are pulled down 
over the great windows, then the great thought-made paths to 
our own homes; then, like the glow-worms of your forests, 
whose phosphorescent beauty is caught from the love-light of 
angel's eyes, this pale pink twilight lowers and dims until it 
becomes a strange, weird radiance which rocks our souls from 
side to side, then as the period of evening arrives, subsides 
quietly into silence, and the stars dim to a pale yellow hue. 

"We seek the silken couches, gathering robes of purity, 
prayer and inspiration about us. We hear far off the celestial 
choir singing the evening anthem. All of this plane sinks 
quietly into that profound sleep where even angels deign not 
to tread. We go off into the dreamless sleep of this higher life. 

" I have spoken of morning, noon and night on the astral 

196 



ELOQUENCE 

plane. I have described the actualities of this sphere. I have 
pictured to you, as far as the genius of the instrument enables 
me to use the keys of his intelligence, a descriptive oratorio of 
life in the three divisions of morning, noon and night on the 
astral planes. 

" Nothing is worthy of utterance unless it teaches something 
high and noble. The symbol for you to observe, then, is of a 
great star almost within arm's reach, and you reach out to its 
polished surface to feel what the star is made of. Let this 
symbolized star eternally gleam before you, that your morning 
of life, your noon of activity, your evening of subsidence into 
refreshing sleep shall be one whose thought, action and pur- 
pose will serve to illuminate your souls. Then the voice of 
your life will sing, and its singing will reach to the Master of 
Masters, blend with His till all shall hear the divine song of 
your characters." 

The speakers of the Twentieth Plane were some- 
what impatient because of the slowness of the process 
of speaking over the Board. For our immediate in- 
spiration the trance method was more effective. But 
nothing could be finer than the careful statements of 
Coleridge, Lincoln, Hugo, Cellini, and many others 
which came to us by the deliberate process of the 
Board. 

Through the Instrument in trance, a host of im- 
mortals, from Pythagoras to Emerson, have spoken 
their wonder words to our hearts, and we have listened 
to their joy-messages from the hills of light, some- 
times sitting for moments in silence after the astral 
heralds had withdrawn. 

197 



" Character is the foundation of true liberty ; and true 
liberty will recognize that the greatest number in the body 
politic must control action in the individual." 

— Elbert Hubbard. 

" The private profit idea is the most damaging contrast be- 
tween this plane and yours." 

— Richard Mansfield. 

" Wilson is a man of God." 

— Lincoln. 

" The dawn creeps slowly up the great white-curtained sky. 

" He is earth's greatest nobleman who most quickly gets to 
work and begins to build the era of social equality and near- 
ness to the divine." 

— Mother. 



198 



STATESMANSHIP 

In consequence of an error, either in transmission 
or of record, Lincoln was at first said to be teaching 
Politics in a college of which Ingersoll was the prin- 
cipal. Lincoln took the trouble on a later date to 
correct this. He then stated that he teaches Wisdom, 
the moral being that Wisdom is the true Politics. 
The corrected dialogue follows : 

February 10 — IngersolL 
What are you doing over there ? 
" I am principal of a college." 
Who are on your staff ? 
" Emerson, Carlyle, Lincoln." 
What does each teach? 

"I teach rhetoric; Emerson, religion; Carlyle, logic, and 
Lincoln, wisdom." 

• •••'••« 

It seems strange that Carlyle should be teaching Logic and 
Philosophy. He was not specially noted for those subjects 
here. 

" No, but even there, he had the cliff-like brow." 

In this chapter, I propose to present Twentieth 
Plane views of Politics, which will, let us hope, be 
found to merit the title of wisdom. Here Lincoln 
will be chief spokesman, but since some matter for 
which we are indebted to Hubbard could hardly be 
placed elsewhere, as it treats of the present war, it may- 
be well to include it here. As some predictions are 

199 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

involved in it, I desire to record them in this work, 
even though it be as yet only in manuscript, so that the 
mistakes of this particular Moses may be irrevocable. 

April 28— Hubbard 

" Hubbard is on the rostrum. Say, if I make mistakes re 
the war, blame the Huns, not me. As the donkey kicks, one 
runs. So I avoid brick-bats when one says ' It was wrong, 
Fra.' But I will tell you this, we saw causes set in motion re 
naval activity, so you heard of the bottling up of harbour, 
and the Austrian destroyers put to flight by British boats." 

How does last week's work look to you ? 

" It is the crucial battle of the war. Foch will get into 
action soon. Almost at once, and God help Hindy. For the 
Huns (this) will — as the strategy of this worthy successor of 
Napoleon allows for — be the epoch Waterloo of this con- 
flict." 

Does that mean that the reserves have not yet taken part ? 

" As accurate as Euclid. Here are the steps as I see them 
along with your greatest military writer, Simonds: 

" First, the Allies fall back to prepared positions, and the 
Huns make great advances. 

" Second, the Huns employ every method of the war such as 
tanks, etc. Then they exhaust their reserves. The morale 
of the army fails. 

" Third, the army of manoeuvre gets into action under Foch. 
Their demise soon follows." 

Whose demise? 

" The Huns. 

" Fourth, the Hun navy, as a last resort, comes out. Then the 
spirit of Nelson lives in the hearts of Englishmen whose home 
is on the sea, and the war subsides into the golden glory of 
peace. 

200 



STATESMANSHIP 

" These are the steps to the end." 

I suppose the dates are very doubtful. 

" I use dates to be the Fra." 

You mean to be sure of things like the Fra? 

" Cocksure." 

You spoke before of a revoluton as a last step before peace 
came. 

" I said there would be a revolution in Germany." 

" Say, A. D., shove one of those big thought-berries into my 
clutch now." 

It should be stated that Hubbard revised the date of 
the naval engagement from time to time. And while 
speaking of predictions, there may be no better time to 
say that the message stated on the same page (132) 
has proved to be substantially true, though neither I 
nor the instrument nor any one present on that even- 
ing knew it till four weeks later. The dates, the name, 

the incident of the drowning of A , the place, and 

other details were then verified. I am sorry that the 
name cannot be given here. If we assume that no 
evidence from an occult source can be admitted, then 
of course no final conclusion can ever be reached, but 
in this as in all other matters the common sense way 
of treating the investigation is to consider all the 
evidence and if it brings conviction, well ; if not, still 
it is well. 

Now, let us return to our task of demonstrating 
that wisdom in true politics, which is set forth by those 
astral spirits whose messages have thrown around our 
lives so much that is gladness during these months of 

201 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

research. Is not that of itself evidence? To be 
sure, gladness and exaltation are not very conclusive 
matters before the intellect's tribunal, but I insist, an 
influence, that, coming into the life of man, gives him 
exaltation and clear vision, inspiring to noble and 
pure conduct, must not be ignored. If the communi- 
cation with lower grade spirits degrades, and this is 
evidence, then the higher experience too is evidential. 

April 28 — Hubbard 

You did not take an interest in Philosophy as University 
men do ? 

" No." 

Yet you would call yourself a philosopher? 

" Yes, because I thought in system." 

You were fairly radical ? 

" Yes." 

What are your conceptions of good and evil ? 

" Evil is a good thing off the track. Good is on." 

Is there such a thing as good and bad, or are these just 
devices to help us live better and more satisfactory lives ? 

" As you said exactly." 

To contain the elements of dissolution in our conduct, is that 
evil ? 

" I agree with that. It is the essence of truth. If in the 
working out of a plan there is a fallacy concealed in the 
method, then the result is a failure. Yes. Yes. Yes ! " 

Is it then that every theory of government but Democracy 
involves the elements of its own dissolution ? 

" History has the wrecks of nations strewn along the paths 
of time to confirm your philosophy." 

Then Democracy is subject to the same law? 

202 



STATESMANSHIP 

" That is true Democracy." 

Then we may have to abandon some of the practices of our 
present Democracy? 

" Yes. In the working out of true Democracy, these prin- 
ciples are necessary to save any nation, viz. : The true Democ- 
racy will contain in its fabric the principle of the Initiative and 
Referendum." 

Must every man have the right to make a failure of his own 
life? 

" Yes. He is the captain of his own soul. ,, 

But if his course should tend to wreck the state? 

" His guide is, will he hurt his fellow ? " 

How about religious liberty ? 

If the church advise a course inimical to the interests of the 
state what should be done? 

" Character is the foundation of true liberty, and true liberty 
will recognize that the greater number in the body politic must 
control indiscriminate action in the individual. True Democ- 
racy is on the ascent. The war is showing what Democracy 
really is. . . . The democratic principle which extends 
out of nature is its own safety valve." 

Our communication with Lincoln was much occu- 
pied with the great war now in progress. No one 
could be better equipped for entertaining sound views 
on such a question. He was in one of the most critical 
wars in history. His country, which to him spelled 
Democracy, was the issue. On various occasions the 
ship seemed to be heading for the rocks, and no one 
seemed to know enough to control the helm. Happy 
the nation in which a sane and resolute statesman had 
the authority to lay his hand on the wheel and veer the 

203 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

ship into open waters. What with the poor opinion 
of some, the contempt of others, the treason of still 
others, and the stupidity of a multitude of his officers 
and advisers, the fact that he saved Democracy, in as 
far as his nation represents it, is a crowning monu- 
ment to his wisdom. Let us then hear what he has 
to say in these dialogues, with patience, even if our 
attitude to these researches is not one of reverence. 

April 28 — Lincoln 

" I wait in the spirit of comradeship. The discussion was 
indeed brilliant. I am Wisdom's spokesman." 

What about the conscientious objector? We permit the 
sects to flourish and hold views that would, if all accepted 
them, leave us open to conquest by a conscienceless foe. 
Would we do right to curtail religious liberty? 

" Absolutely correct to do so. In earth life I imposed con- 
scription without fear of man or God." 

Did you have conscientious objectors to meet as we have? 

" The same fool arguments." 

In the present food situation, how can we tell the facts with- 
out creating a panic? 

" Get them panicky. The art of statesmanship is the con- 
trol of panics. The fear of terrible misery is the only thing 
to remove the scales from their eyes. If the situation produces 
panic, as it will if stated, so much the better. I advise the fear 
of hell to be thrown into the national consciousness, thereby to 
bring the lackadaisical people to their senses." 

Would they not hoard food and make the conditions worse ? 

" Control this by law. Inspection would now reveal hoard- 
ing in the homes of thousands." 

Should this be put back on the market ? 

204 



STATESMANSHIP 

" Confiscated to the state. But Dear , I am serious as 

life. If it is not done now, you will have to do it in a few 
months. ... All problems reach a climax. . . . The 
food famine, in reaching that climax, will necessitate the in- 
spection of those who laid in great stores of food-stuffs. Now 
does not common sense tell you that the wise statesman will 
prevent rather than meet a difficult situation, so why wait ? " 

We have a law now. 

" But not enforced. It must be." 

Would we get enough in private houses to warrant the 
search ? 

" You will be astonished at the vast stores in concealment. 
It is human nature to protect the family. You talk of panic ; 
there is an undertone of panic in the United States and Canada 
to-day, so by moonlight, as it were, this sin of covetousness is 
as active as a snake in flight. 

April 28 — Disraeli 

(It was explained that while Disraeli was a reincarnation of 
the soul Spinoza, that soul can speak in the capacity of either 
of these persons at will.) 

Is the Irish trouble serious to the empire? 

" Listen. Once I said, the Irish are an imaginative race, and 
their home is beside the melancholy ocean. Lloyd George will, 
in his scheme of Irish Home Rule, in which is the immortal 
spirit of Redmond, play on the imagination of the Irish as the 
violinist vibrates the chords of a violin, changing their point 
of view. 

" On the pallid crest of time comes healing. So Ireland, 
after the eruption, will sail into a harbour of calmer water." 

Same in Quebec? 

" Yes, but I admit my lack of knowledge there." 

May 4 — Emerson 
" Your age is at once to be brightened by the sun of a more 

205 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

glorious period. . . . The economic system will adjust it- 
self to a higher form of justice, nobility, service, and this all 
in conformity with the spirit of democracy. 

May 5 — Lincoln 

"About statues. Well, see here. The ancients had idols, 
so you would ape them." 

Do monuments and memorials inspire children and youths 
to emulate the best of our great ones? 

" Not nearly as much as the monuments in their minds. 
You may think them external verities, but I see here no ex- 
ternal forms of the unit man." 

May 5 — Hubbard 

Will the reconstruction after the war be a slow process ? 

" The reconstruction period always means privation, but in 
the future your nation will, better than all places in the world 
except Australia, weather the storm." 

February 18 — Lincoln 

Which of your sons walked into Richmond with you after 
its surrender? 

" Tad, I think, but not sure." 

I am representing you in my poem as speaking to Ann Rut- 
ledge after your assassination. Have you any objections ? 

" No; earth will tremble at the joy of such a thing." 

Are you inspiring your country at the present time ? 

" Yes ; at the helm of state, through Wilson, who is a per- 
fectly safe man." 

Will the United States lead in peace and in the reconstruc- 
tion of the world ? 

" You know that they will." 

Are we going to be in dire distress on this continent as to 
food supplies? 

206 



STATESMANSHIP 

" Do not worry. Energy sent into the soil will give you a 
double harvest." 

By reference to the dialogue on page 204, it will be 
seen that Lincoln had modified his view on the ques- 
tion of worry about foods. There he advocates an 
effective panic, and at the present writing (May 16) 
it seems to be very necessary. The dialogue of Feb- 
ruary 18 continued as follows: 

February 18 — Lincoln 

Will there be much trouble with aliens in the United States ? 

" No ; Gerard said it. Too many telegraph poles there to 
string them to. ,, 

Will the negroes cause any trouble ? 

" Booker Washington will assist me in dealing with that 
question." 

Will the negro question be solved through education? 

" Bull's eye remark." 

Are you interested in New Salem now? 

" I weep at the words." 

Are the sycamore and the silver hazel still there ? 

" No ; commercial life has altered the landscape." 

What will be the war's effect on the social life of America ? 

" League of nations is your answer." 

Are any on your plane active in inspiring patriotic work ? 

" No more so than before the war. Plane Twelve is alive 
on that particular purpose." 

Who is leading the activities on Plane Twelve on behalf of 
the patriotic work ? 

" Do not know, but Grant and Sherman went there. They 
would be likely to." 

207 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

Is there any one on earth now reincarnated from a very high 
plane ? 

"Abdul Bahai is from the ioooth Plane." 

One evening, speaking about United States his- 
tory, Lincoln mentioned Horace Greeley. We quote: 

February 18 — Lincoln 

" I taught Horace Greeley a lesson that put him on this 
plane." 

What was that lesson ? 

" Humility and the use of his vision." 

You regard the use of one's vision as a very important 
matter ? 

" Yes ; cleans carbon off one's window panes." 

What address do you look back upon with the greatest 
pleasure ? 

" Farewell address in Springfield. I referred there to 
Willie." (This has been confirmed.) 

On a later evening, Lincoln seemed to know that I 
had not grasped the full significance of this communi- 
cation, and the following colloquy ensued: 

February 24 — Lincoln. Home of Instrument 
" Did you see the point re Horace Greeley yet ? " 
I do not know. You said you brought him to Plane Twenty, 

did you not ? 

" Just this : He was limiting himself to earth plane, and thus, 

although big, was drying up his soul." 
Thank you. Is Horace Greeley on the Twentieth Plane 

now? 

" Yes. We draw others with us." 
How about Seward? 

208 



STATESMANSHIP 

" Here ; in Emerson Group." 
And Chase? 
"No, no!" 

Though somewhat remote from the subject of 
Politics, there may be no better time than the present 
to give the history of the Lincoln poem which Mother 
said I should write. The story emerges from the 
dialogue which we will present. Mother and I had 
been speaking of my own work when she said: 

February 10 — Mother — Lincoln 

" You will write next on Lincoln. Will he speak for five 
minutes ? " 

We shall be glad to hear Lincoln. 

(Lincoln speaks.) 

" I am here with son Will." 

Your son ? 

" My son. He will reincarnate for your world at once. 
He will be the picture of Mrs. Lincoln." 

Will he ever be President ? 

" No; President of Harvard." 

Will he be a world personage? 

" Yes ; leader of world congress." 

Will there be any other great world leader before his time ? 

" No ; but Wilson is a man of God." 

Is the United States to become more democratic as the years 
go on? 

" In six months the United States will advance as much as it 
did in a hundred years under the old regime." 

Will there be a world reconstruction of industrial and com- 
mercial interests? 

209 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

" Yes ; and be sure that the old fabric is gone for good." 

How old was your son Will when he passed over? 

" Twelve years." (This has been confirmed.) 

What is his chief occupation now? 

" He is my assistant in Politics." 

What is the big thing you want me to say in the poem I am 
to write about you ? 

" I cried with the lowly and felt their griefs. I suffered hell 
for truths sake, but reached the port a man. I had a face of 
pain, I felt all woes because I was a man. I never said, nor 
did, nor allowed cruelty that I could prevent and I prevented 
an abundance of it. Mention Willie. His coffin lies with 
mine in rest." 

I want to put the poem in the form of a monologue. To 
whom shall I have you speak? 

" Oh, yes . . . to Ann Rutledge." 

February 24 — Lincoln. Home of Instrument 

(Meanwhile the poem had been written.) 

" Read stanzas where lines from here, come in." (The lines 
were read.) 

" Thanks. Ann Rutledge heard you read that. She is with 
me. Can you work in another idea into the poem ? " 

Certainly. It is not finished. 

" Good ! When I came here first, I saw a crystalline blue 
and pink star in the heavens. I worshipped that star from 
afar, then as consciousness came like the throwing off of earth 
robes, the star grew intenser ; I heard a voice ; I looked ; I was 
in the arms of Ann." 

On June 23 I was asked to suggest a theme for 
Lincoln, who was about to speak through the Instru- 
ment while in trance. I named as a subject, Essential 
Democratic Foundations and how to Build on them. 

210 



STATESMANSHIP 

I took only a few notes of his address, which I pre- 
sent here : 

June 23 — Lincoln 

" What are the pointing fingers to the greater ideals of the 
people ? 

" Until profits are eliminated, there must be social distinc- 
tions, and they constitute hell. 

" The people can exploit any great national utility without 
profits. 

" Three fundamental positions are slowly emerging from the 
body politic : 

First. — The elimination of profits. 

Second. — The evanishment of social distinctions. 

Third. — Equality of education. 

" The man on the sidewalk wonders by what law the 
luxurious hold their unjust privileges. Luxuries, profits, 
money privileges, all will have to go. Labour will be crowned. 

" There is more true Democracy in equality of education 
than in any other department. A great poem cannot be 
cornered. All the higher as well as the lower schools will 
soon be state-owned. 

" There are great massive doors on our Hall of Learning. 
They are always open. If one of us felt for a moment that 
the poorest might not enter those halls, those doors would 
forever close to us all. 

" Learning is the power to think. Remember that the true 
Democracy is that of your own hearts. Every action employs 
the great law of cause and effect." 

These are the actual words purporting to be spoken 
in our own times by the great Lincoln. I commend 
them for careful consideration by all the legislators of 
this reconstructive epoch. 

211 



" The naturalist is he who with scientific eyes sees all in 
nature because he sees through, not over or around. The 
naturalist recognizes that all trees, flowers, vegetation, hills, 
valleys, mountains, are thinking of God. All visible nature is 
God-thought matured, which means that in the beginning and 
through the growth, God was the principle, and when maturity 
is reached, God-thought is revealed." 

— Agassiz. 

(Received June 28 — Dixie. In the woods.) 

" On the earth plane Gravitation is a current of electric ether 
that runs in parallel lines around the globe. On the Twentieth 
Plane, Gravitation acts in perpendicular lines that run straight 
up from the earth plane. We can get between those lines and 
escape the law." 

— Dorothy Wordsworth. 



212 



LIFE PRINCIPLES 

It is easier to produce an essay than a true apho- 
rism. Few can write a proverb without first setting 
forth the main idea in voluminous phrase, and after- 
wards reducing it to its final essence. When one finds 
" a jewel five words long," it is either the product of 
supreme inspiration, or else its author has worked it 
out laboriously by the foregoing method. If a second 
original proverb immediately follows the first, we may 
be pretty sure that we are in the presence of a rare 
genius. A series of these gems is never produced ex- 
temporaneously. If any undoubted genius questions 
this conclusion, we recommend him to write, at full 
speed, half a dozen proverbs, bright, brief, and 
unquestionably great, proverbs that have never be- 
fore had voice or form, proverbs that will arrest the 
most thoughtful, and appeal with divine authority 
to mind and heart. Of course he will fail utterly and 
ignominiously — utterly because of incapacity, igno- 
miniously because of pride. If, however, he should 
imagine the effort to be a success, this will show that he 
lacks judgment as well as genius. 

In view of all these facts, we must conclude that 
when such a series of bright and brief ideas emerges in 
our dialogues, they are inspired. They may be spon- 
taneous individually but not as a series, for no 
proverb-sequence was ever inspired as a unit. They 
are particular and sequestered gems of truth, each 

213 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

one of which, though collected here, was originally a 
white-cap on the high-crested wave of thought. 

When " the people of The Twentieth Plane " make 
a statement of the laws as contained in these dialogues, 
they do not claim to give them, at the moment, spon- 
taneous birth; they are only quoting some of the best 
thoughts of their brightest thinkers with the hope that 
we too may find them aflame with inspiration. 

In this chapter are presented passages of high con- 
verse in which some of these life principles are set 
forth. It is not claimed that all of them are of equal 
value, but some of them at least are remarkable and 
unquestionably significant. 

April 21 — Coleridge 
" The highest is no higher than the humblest." 
" The cloak of hidden sin is the most transparent garment." 
" Hidden virtue is all alight with publication." 
" God is the brother of mankind." 

" The unit is always the anchor of destruction to the ideal ; 
it ties to a post of limitation." 

April 21 — Ingersoll 
"All noble impulses obstructed, find here inevitable fulfil- 
ment." 

" All weak thought, if good, intensifies to reality here." 

" In the presence of the great poet, words are oil-colours." 

" Emotion is the ocean of one's consciousness in action." 

February 10 — Ingersoll 
What has been the most surprising truth you have learned 
on the Twentieth Plane? 

214 



LIFE PRINCIPLES 

" That I am alive." 

April 21 — Hubbard 
I suppose it is true that there is nothing to fear but fear. 
" There is nothing to fear but nothing." 

May 5 — Dorothy 
" Only man himself can rescue himself," 

May 25 — Dorothy 
" Desire is the step to destiny." 

March p — Mother 
" Only that is strange which never happens." 

March i? — Coleridge 
" The minority on the side of God keeps the craft floating. 
The mass is taken on as a cargo." 

We have already reported (on page 77) the law 
stated by my mother, 

" Light comes when there is least disturbance." 

The frequent admonition to keep the attitude of 
passivity and power, an admonition repeated in some 
form or other every time we met, shows the great im- 
portance the people of the Twentieth Plane attach to 
this harmonious concentration of all forces in quiet 
aspiration and expectancy. Is it not indeed the very 
same condition imposed by the great Founder of our 
religion when He says: " Thou, when thou pray est, 
enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut the 

215 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy 
Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." 
Is it not also the sine qua non of all artistic achieve- 
ment? The artist must tune his instruments of 
thought and feeling to the highest rate of vibration; 
he must soar into the empyrean and catch some strains 
of the music that drifts down from the heavenly choir. 
Speaking of a certain system of thought sometimes 
regarded as a religion, I asked: 

January 2*j — Mother 

Would it not be all right if we kept our minds on a fiigh 
spiritual plane, founded on prayer? 

" Yes. That is true of all good things." 

A similar illustration of this law of harmony is 
found in the following answer: 

January 2*j — Hubbard 
Why is Keats on a higher plane? 
" Desire is part of it. Aspiration too." 

Akin to this law of harmony is one that requires us 
to rise above the personal to the social, or even the 
universal, before we can be inheritors of a conscious- 
ness of our true greatness. One of the laws already 
quoted in this chapter shows that the over-regard of 
the unit, the personal, 

" ties us to the post of limitation." 

Something akin to that fine disregard of the base 

216 



LIFE PRINCIPLES 

thoughts of others evinced by the Saviour of men 
when he said, " Go and tell that fox that I do cures 
to-day and to-morrow, and the third day I shall be 
perfected," is shown in the interesting dialogue which 
follows : 

February 10 — Dorothy 

" The greatest epigrams in your world are these and we 
use them here: 

" ' Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds/ 

"And the other one, 

" ' Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they toil 
not neither do they spin, and yet I say unto you that even 
Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.' " 

" We use them now." 

Who used them now ? 

" The group." 

Who are the group? 

" Hogg, Shelley, Mother, I and some others." 

Is your brother one of the group? 

" Yes. I knew that you must know that." 

On page 288, Keats is reported as saying that only 
the first five planes revolve with the earth. This was 
not the whole story of the planes and their relations 
to each other and to the earth. Hartley Coleridge 
on April 21st gives this further interesting informa- 
tion: 

'April 21 — Hartley Coleridge 
" The planes rotate in ever-increasing speed as the circle 
widens. That is, we travel through space like you, only about 

217 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

three thousand times faster. Hence all vibration is increased 
on this plane through a law of interdependent action." 

Does the extra speed increase the vibration? 

" Up, down, across, all around." 

The law of vibration as understood on the Twen- 
tieth Plane receives further illumination from the fol- 
lowing explanation by Coleridge: 

May 5 — Coleridge 
" In the cosmos, all is vibration, either slow or fast. Now 
some forces operate to retard, others to accelerate the flow of 
vibrations from a central source. . . . On the Twentieth 
Plane, the almost incomprehensible speed of vibration delivered 
from the central source encounters less obstruction to retard 
its speed than in the denser matter of your plane." 



May 5 — Hubbard 

We are told that the Twentieth Plane is 500 miles above the 
earth, and that it revolves much faster than the fifth which is 
on the earth's surface. Can you tell us in what direction it 
revolves? Is it from west to east as ours or from north to 
south ? 

" Between the two." 

Somewhat like our ecliptic? 

" Yes." 

On more general matters, Ingersoll gave the fol- 
lowing brief answers, which were comprehensive be- 
cause of the nature of the questions. These were pro- 
pounded by a friend. 

218 



LIFE PRINCIPLES 

February 10 — Ingersoll 

Is Bergson right in his theory that the Universe is universal 
life or consciousness ever becoming? 

" Yes." 

Am I right in thinking that we enjoy heaven in proportion 
as we harmonize with universal laws, and suffer hell as we fail 
so to harmonize? 

" Yes. Heaven is harmony and hell discord." 

Am I right in my theory that matter, reduced infinitely to 
its ultimate reduction, and thought-energy, are identical in 
substance and character? 

" Yes." 

February 10 — Lincoln 
What is the process of passing to a higher plane? 
"A birth." 

Does it involve a death? 
" Well, a little of that." 

One feature of this research is to be noted because 
it touches the experience of nearly every one who 
engages in it, from the instrument himself to the last 
reader of this page. We shall find in a later chap- 
ter how important a place is given in the Twentieth 
Plane to the quality of humility. The Publica- 
tion Committee, consisting as it does of four of 
the most celebrated men of the nineteenth century, 
signed their report, "The Humble Ones of The 
Twentieth Plane/' After Coleridge and Ingersoll 
had given the aphorisms and laws as stated in the 
present chapter they signed themselves " The 
Humble Ones/' 

219 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

It seems that another sweet grace has been added, 
on the Twentieth Plane, to the immortal three that 
we know on ours. Now humility, however beautiful 
as a jewel in the character, is a very difficult virtue in 
one who is investigating such experiences as those we 
have been studying in these dialogues. For over fifty 
years I have regarded the names of Wordsworth, 
Coleridge, Shelley, Emerson, Lincoln, Whitman and 
others who are concerned in this research with a rever- 
ence for which I can find no adequate expression. 
These men have always been to me like stars in my 
heaven, unapproachable, serene, undying. Imagine 
then the surprise, the incredulity with which I must 
naturally receive the story that any, and much more, 
that all of these have spoken to me either for my own 
sake or for the sake of a great purpose, since either 
motive seems to exalt me unduly. 

Nevertheless, as I try to imagine myself in their 
places, I can conceive that I should not be swayed by 
any sense of superiority over simple and sincere souls. 
Indeed, the very title they choose to assume, The 
Humble Ones, is evidence that they do not regard 
themselves as better or more select than the unlettered, 
unrenowned, who have not attained to eminence in 
any field of achievement. What they require for 
their purpose is a certain vibration which for some 
reason pertains to the group that meets in this home. 
It proves no superiority, or aristocracy of intellect, or 
of heart, further than the power to be passive, serene, 

220 



LIFE PRINCIPLES 

humble and sincere; to have a faith that is based on 
the vision of spiritual values, a courage born of such 
a faith, and a spirit glad and free because of a love 
which does not alter " when it alteration finds." 

Essentially, no one is greater than anybody else, 
and as Socrates pointed out long ago, the wise owe to 
the ignorant knowledge. What is more to be ex- 
pected, therefore, than that these starry immortals 
should wish to instruct me and all of us who need 
wisdom? That they do this does not prove that we 
are greater than others, but rather that we have 
realized our poverty in those things which these im- 
mortals have to bestow, and by that realization have 
become fitting instruments through which great and 
valued revelations may be mediated to others. 

Perhaps some extracts from the dialogues will bear 
upon this matter, so important, since the prevalent 
idea of greatness modifies unnecessarily the open mind 
with which all should approach this investigation. 

April i — Lincoln 
H The great man is he who can come down from any 
eminence, however high, and dwell among the common people." 

April 15 — Hartley Coleridge 
It seems to me, Hartley, that the fact that you are away up 
in the sky must be the basis of many great differences between 
your life and ours. 

"The difference between Greece and Rome in the palmy 
days of both nations. I am in Athens, you in Rome. ,, 

221 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

April 15 — Coleridge 

" The blunted intellects of the people of Rome, as compared 
with the genius of Greece, is like comparing mud with a fleecy 
cloud." 

Is not the issue in the present war a similar one? 

"A conflict between the empire of reason and the empire 
of hell." 

On your plane, do you devote all your time to matters of 
reality ? 

" Nearly all the time, for we are not infallible. Your plane 
can be likened to a section of a city called the slums, ours to 
the university section." 

How does the Twenty-fifth Plane differ from the Twentieth ? 

" Very little, but they have a continuation of laws which 
enables them to dispense with some of the mechanics of this 
plane such as aura instruments." 

" Shall I tell you the curriculum we study ? " 

Do. 

" Political Wisdom, Art, Music, Literature, Eugenics, Aura 
History, Sex relationship, Discordant elements in human na- 
ture. Eugenics are different ... we study the post- 
humous aspect. The aspect which develops after the ego 
reaches the mature part of its climb. 

" That is the tendency thrown forward after the ideals have 
been attained." 

Does a child come to your groups sometimes ? 

" Yes, but born from the earth or from another plane. The 
body only was your gift." 

Is there anything corresponding with marriage on your 
plane ? 

" No. True marriage is simply soul-coalescence." 

& * * a .■ • •- 

222 



LIFE PRINCIPLES 

" Great thought tells its own truth." 

Do your professors attend lectures by others? 

" We have no professors here. We have men and women. 
The greatest is the humblest. So the servants of all sit at the 
feet of all." 

What occupies most of your time ? 

" Conforming to the plane's greater laws. Your best self is 
the lowest rung of the ladder of our height." 

Then your plane accepts us at our best ? What, then, do you 
say of such texts as " If the righteous scarcely be saved, where 
shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? " 

" The weak cry of a barbaric age. Moses knows that now." 
(Why was Moses named here? The text is from Peter. The 
ego of Moses is said to be reincarnated in Lincoln.) 

Should each of us write down the most inspiring thoughts 
we can? 

" The difference between our planes is, we can think at our 
best whenever we desire, but you think best when you forget." 

Is that because of inspiration? 

" Whence, you do not see." 

Is there not a law by which we can receive inspiration when 
we will? 

"No, hardly a law, but say a method. Inspiration quietly 
opens the door when you slumber." 

There must be a great number of persons writing about how 
to rule the world after the war. 
" But not ruling themselves." 

The law stated in the Intention was quoted by 
Dorothy Wordsworth, as follows: 

February 24 — Dorothy 
Clear vision often goes with an empty purse. Is that a law ? 

223 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

" Yes, and the law is, ' Perfect through suffering.' " 
Is there a law like that on the astral planes ? 
"All great laws penetrate all planes." 

April 28 — Mother. Home of Dr. Abbott 
"Albert, my boy, Coleridge said: The Twentieth Plane re- 
flects love, wisdom, and joy to your sphere, nor asks any 
recompense. He desires to state another aphorism. 
" All are equal to all/ " 

One of the first aphorisms we received was that with 
which Dorothy Wordsworth defended the simplicity 
of her brother's work : 

" Spontaneity is a blessing." 

An important eugenic law was enunciated by 
Richard Mansfield. If it is correct, and who shall 
say it is not, it is one that every father and mother 
should carefully meditate on before assuming the re- 
sponsibilities of parenthood: 

June 2 — Mansfield 
" In the case of Edwin Booth, son of Junius Booth, we 
found an example of a soul called to body by a father's de- 
sire. . . . This brings me to reincarnation. A certain re- 
search I made here tells me that a desire for children to fill a 
great part in life will secure them from the higher planes. I 
can give you an example wherein a large family were all 
brought to earth by great desire. The family were the Medici. 
This family was all supremely great. Borgia was the reincar- 
nation of a woman of Florence of long ago, named Celestina." 

Let us turn now to a somewhat different phase of 

224 



LIFE PRINCIPLES 

this question of reincarnation, viz., metempsychosis. 
On one occasion, I had asked Hubbard about this. 
My purpose at that time was chiefly to side-track the 
Instrument, a practise which I soon learned to avoid. 
I was pretty sure he did not know the meaning of the 
word, and was somewhat surprised to find that though 
he did not, the intelligence which guided him did know 
it. Here is the conversation: 

January 27 — Hubbard 
Will you ever be living in this world again? 
" Yes ; if I want to." 
Reincarnation is a fact then? 
" Yes, but do not stretch it." 

Is there any truth in the doctrine of metempsychosis? 
" Yes ; for animals." 

Some light is thrown on the admonition not to 
overdo the scope of reincarnation in the dialogue of 

April 28 — Disraeli. Home of Dr. Abbott 
Under what circumstances does reincarnation take place ? 
" Reincarnation only for definite purposes." 
How can we know when one is a reincarnation ? 
" In the case of genius, always a reincarnation. Genius is 

the accumulated experience of many lives. It is often a veil 

to you." 
Are there no reincarnations but those of geniuses ? 
"About that." 

Coming back to the question re metempsychosis, let 
us refer to the dialogue. We had been told that 

225 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

Dorothy has her dog with her on the Twentieth Plane. 
The Scholar-girl had told of a dream-picture of a pet 
dog which she had seen in the arms of a white-robed 
man immediately after its death. This dog had for 
ten years been almost constantly with human beings, 
hardly ever seeing another dog. Emerson was asked 
about it: 

April 18 — Emerson 
" In my essay on Swedenborg: The Mystic, I was inclined to 
doubt the theory of metempsychosis, but now I realize that 
those animals that have come in contact with humans are, in 
the nature of love, destined to live as they were, an expression 
of the love of the helpless for the one who gave them im- 
mortality." 

From this statement I inferred that Emerson 
alludes in the essay named to the law of metempsy- 
chosis. None of us remembered whether this was the 
case or not. I will therefore make the search now. 
. . . I have reread the essay. Such a reference 
occurs in two places in the essay. The reader will 
find one paragraph beginning as follows: 

" That metempsychosis which is familiar in the old 
Mythology of the Greeks, etc." 

Had I not found the reference to which Emerson 
alluded, I should have been puzzled. I have the 
utmost confidence that none of those present in the 
meeting had any knowledge of the reference, and my 
own memory had entirely lost it from my power of 
recollection. And yet I left my typewriter and pro- 

226 



LIFE PRINCIPLES 

ceeded to the reading of that essay with the utmost 
confidence that I should find the matter to which 
Emerson referred in the dialogue. This does not 
imply that misstatements have never been made, but 
these were either mistakes as to time, or errors due to 
lapse of memory, or were misstatements made by those 
who had been roused from semi-coma, trying with the 
greatest difficulty to recollect, and suffering, as one 
of them said, " on the hill of skulls," in the vain effort. 
My mother forbade the further disturbance of this 
inexperienced astral personality. 

April 29 — Mother 
"Albert, I want to be frank. I say that . . . cannot be 
stimulated to greater effort. It is important to let him sleep 
in coma for a long time." 

Returning now to the law of reincarnation, I re- 
marked to Mother one evening that I would like to 
have some definite information about this matter. I 
asked if we were right in supposing that the ego, when 
in reincarnated state, could be only on one plane at 
a time. She replied that Hartley would answer, as 
he is a student of reincarnation. Thus the dialogue: 

May 11 — Hartley Coleridge 
" The soul in the reincarnated state is a definite ego . . . 
the resident of a physical body on your plane. It comes here 
only on astral visits, or in lofty lifting up of spirit when cosmic 
consciousness inspires the soul." 

Then the hundreds of people who think they are reincarna- 
tions of Cleopatra must nearly all be mistaken? 

227 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

" Cleopatra is not on the market for reincarnation. She is 
in the valley of the tenth plane. Her sins were as scarlet. 

" I will, if Louis breathes deep, state another great law, re 
the definite purpose of reincarnation. 

" Reincarnation is always the ladder of the higher life let 
down to those who require a step to ascend. The reincarnate 
are always leverages to raise the masses of the people/' 

I have already quoted statements to make clear that 
our astral friends do not claim to be with us in person, 
but to project their thought. Just how this is done 
has not transpired, but it will be interesting to find 
that certain instruments are used to control thought. 
The following quotations show as well as we can this 
mechanical method. 

May 4 — Mother 

Mother, you see us, you say, and yet you are five hundred 
miles away. How can you see through brick walls and every 
other obstruction ? 

" Once I said we used instruments of great power here, did 
I not?" 

Yes. 

" Well, at this moment, I am using an instrument of vision 
projection which throws to us on a screen the images of your 
group, and — Dora said just now — your environments too." 

Is this the way you have always seen our groups ? 

" Yes." 

May 4 — Hartley Coleridge 

" I will tell of the laws of mechanics which control thought. 
But rest while I adjust my notes. 

" Light is reflected on the particles of earth-emanations as 
the camera obscura catches the vision one aims the lens at. 

228 



LIFE PRINCIPLES 

Now, we have an article here we call a vision instrument of 
thought, projecting images of matter. This instrument con- 
sists of powerful lenses which peer through the ether of so- 
called space. It is not retarded by any solid substance, because 
it is one of the so-called X-rays. The violet ray is also 
involved. 

" This instrument is the miniature replica of the soul vision 
in the clair-audient state, so it is not affected by time, distance, 
space, or any of the laws which obtain on your plane. 

" But it has to you one radical, extremely interesting feature. 
It is controlled absolutely by thought. It is on a par with the 
thinking book-publishing machine the authors here use. It 
gives to those who understand it a vision on all planes, from 
the fifth to the hundredth, of the actions, environments, thought 
and love-light of those people who, with a proper medium such 
as Lou, become en rapport, or in concert with our plane. 

"Is that clear?" 

August ii — A. R. Wallace 

Wallace, we have been told that on the Twentieth Plane they 
use instruments to assist them in the process of communicat- 
ing with us. Can you not, as a scientist, tell us, so that we 
can understand, the precise principles underlying and govern- 
ing the process of communication? 

" This is the modus operandi as I can vibrate it to you. I 
am here on a plane about five hundred miles above your world 
I am speaking now through a process of thought into a delicate 
instrument which sends out wave vibrations exactly in the same 
way as a Marconi instrument sends waves out to a receiving 
station instrument. 

" The boy who is your medium is in tune perfectly now with 
the thought wave vibration I direct to his mentality, which is 
the attuned receiving instrument of my so expressed thought. 
He consciously directs movement of his hands, not, I mean, 

229 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

consciously to his physical brain, but because it is his desire to 
do so in his soul. The great thing which makes him the 
Instrument he is, is the fact that he is more perfectly attuned 
to the thought-projecting instrument I am now using than any 
psychic medium we have record of. 

" When he sits down, he realizes that he must think of the 
letters. His mind must not drift from the letters he looks at. 
The letters hold his mind as in a vise/' 

Can he weigh and judge the value of the answers he re- 
ceives ? 

"Yes; but not till after he has reported them. If he did 
this while receiving, his mind would not be held in equipoise 
for the fraction of a second. This attunement of your Instru- 
ment to the sending apparatus means simply that the earth 
Instrument allows to pass through him, because of this very 
equipoise, our complete thought waves. The Instrument is 
able to eliminate all obstruction." 

Is it not possible that some day we might be able to invent 
an instrument that would receive mechanically your messages 
and also transmit to you our thought waves ? 

" The use of physical material to act as receiving station can 
never be. We have a rate of intensity which must be reduced 
and only the soul is capable of receiving and interpreting such 
waves." 

Wallace's opinion should not discourage us. Wire- 
less telephony is already a fact. Eventually it will be 
accessible to all. Why not wireless psycopbony? 

In the chapter on Poetry (page 144) , after Shelley 
had spoken of being charged with effeminacy, the fol- 
lowing colloquy ensued: 

May 26 — Shelley — Coleridge — Corday 
Were you ever incarnated as a woman? 

230 



LIFE PRINCIPLES 

" Will not answer. Let Samuel develop the idea. Now I 
will leave. Good-bye." 

Coleridge : 

" This is the natural division between a man and a woman. 
We shall say A is the man; B is the woman. A is a cruder 
machine through which the same energy flows to be turned into 
concrete, specific action by such an ego. B is also a machine 
through which the same energy courses, but the same energy 
as flows through A is flowing through a finer machine, which 
in its more rare and closer-meshed channels of expression, 
creates results which are not nearly so crude as the efforts 
given forth by the first named figure. 

" Now, if the soul, which is sexless, desires to express itself 
in more bold and massive thought-action, that soul, in lives to 
come, may take on a body or machine to express this greater 
flow of the divine energy. 

" Reincarnation of women of your plane from higher planes 
back to earth again occurs very rarely, but shall I enumerate 
some examples? 

" Joan of Arc was formerly a man. . . . Aspasia was a 
man aeons ago. In Rome, the Mother of Cicero. . . . 
Dora smiles now, but she has read the records. She was a 
man long ago. . . . Shall I give more ? 

" Well, Dora was in time long ago, the Black Prince." 

Is Dora coming back ? 

"Yes. In the list too we place the sainted mother of 
Lincoln. He says he thinks her name was Hanks. And the 
list must contain Mary Queen of Scots, Marie Antoinette, 
Charlotte Corday, Beatrice — the one Dante saw, and lastly, the 
noble woman here now, Harriet Beecher Stowe. 

" Charlotte Corday wants to speak, just for a moment or 
two. Will it be permitted ? " 

She will be welcome. 

231 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

Corday : " I want to say simply, dear ones, that my heart 
is still with France. Marat has forgiven me ; I him, and we all 
here go to a little mountain where we see the lilies and think oft 
of the tricolor of la belle France. All who saw the fall of the 
Bastille will feel that their efforts have not been in vain. In 
the nameless memory of her who cried : ' What crimes are com- 
mitted in thy name, O Liberty ! ' we see the mountain lily and 
it whispers : ' France will live again. Good-bye/ " 

It will be found that throughout these pages, when- 
ever questions were asked of a subtle nature, requiring 
an accurate statement on the astral planes, they were 
referred to specialists. So when I asked for defini- 
tions of terms in psychology Coleridge was the one 
who answered me. The following is an example: 

May 26 — Coleridge 

Will you please define consciousness? 

" Consciousness is the illumination in the lighthouse of per- 
sonality, which shows distinctly, clearly, realistically, objects 
thought of, seen, or felt." 

And what is mysticism? 

" Mysticism is the actual direct communion or conversation, 
through a process of inspiration, with the beings of higher 
planes. A mystic talks or converses directly with the great 
spirits of time. The non-mystic receives his or her impression 
or knowledge of the higher spirits second-hand." 

Will you speak to us on posture of the body? You sug- 
gested that this subject was important. 

"As a physiologist, you should know that the physical in- 
ternal organs are erroneously slung or held in position in phys- 
ical beings. Is this not so ? " 

232 



LIFE PRINCIPLES 

Well, in as far as it is true, it is explained by the human 
being taking, in the process of his evolution, the erect position, 
I think. 

" The animals, for instance, have their stomachs held in a 
parallel line. The animal is correct, but the human, during 
aeons of evolution, came to the posture where the stomach has 
lost its natural carriage. . . . 

" Humans should recognize that the slovenly carriage, the 
rounded shoulders, the sinking, easy postures are against their 
being en rapport with the vibrations of natural physical growth 
and high thought. When a man is on fire with a great idea, 
he throws back the head, stretches up, straight as a reed, 
breathes deeply, extends the arms full length, and unravels the 
lazy body." 

The erect position became a real difficulty then in this 
respect ? 

"All the more reason to think on these points. The children 
here learn, as the first astral lesson, the laws of the carriage, 
posture, and body position. Next comes breathing, then diet." 

Have you any valuable hints on diet? 

" Nearly all the geniuses of time were vegetarians. There 
is a great law in this. The simple food of vegetable nature 
conduces directly to high thinking. Not only the physical life 
benefits, but the soul itself. As the old lamps of the Greeks 
burned oil, so the soul receives a pure oil from such a diet." 

I was advised to use a little meat three times a week. 

" Yes, a little. And this, too, is of note. In vegetables, your 
chemists think they have, through the processes of analytical 
chemistry, divided into various component parts all the ele- 
ments of which such food is composed, and they even can 
produce synthetically, in divided state, these elements. The 
greatest element of all has not yet been seen or even dreamed 
of by them. This element is cosmic, a part of life, vril, the 

233 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

most soul-nourishing substance of your plane. It is found 
especially in lettuce, tomatoes and eggs. 

" To come back again to the other element of physical life, 
in flowers, in the perfume of, say the rose, and especially lilacs, 
one inhales this food, and hence often great poems, divine 
essays, and the deepest philosophy was fed to reality by the 
influence of flowers." 

Is there any analogy between this element which you say is 
abundant in lettuce, etc., and what we know as vitamines? 

" Yes, a very great resemblance, and they are to some slight 
extent a portion of this element." 

What is the difference between the synthetic meats you use 
and that which we use on earth? (Page 38.) 

" Your meat (on the earth plane) produces uric acid ele- 
ments difficult to eliminate, and feeds the physical body with 
animal characteristics." 

Why, then, do you advise a little meat in my case? 

" Because you go to the other extreme in thought and life, 
and we want you to be more material and physical." 

June 2 — Coleridge 

" Now I will state a law : On this plane, the sixth sense is 
one akin to the olfactory of physical life. This sense is 
sensitive to the odours of all things. Even thought has an 
odour." 

Is it not a fact that the members of the circle here have de- 
veloped this sixth sense during these meetings ? 

" Yes." 

Has my aura changed much during these meetings ? 

" No. Always serene in faith. Pink, blue, red, gold, green, 
in definite, proportionate belts until white is reached, when the 
fringe is small but vivid." 

June 14 — Coleridge 
"Re God: Get this for your plane — The Universe (based 

234 



LIFE PRINCIPLES 

on principles so well enunciated by Spinoza, later thought ex- 
tending the idea into the domain of pure Kantian reason), 
specifically, as an utterance of fact without the most minute 
grain of dissimulation, teaches that 

The Universe is God. 

" Now, this is our first premise. We of the Twentieth 
Plane know, based on extensive empirical thought-endeavours 
in the chambers of concentration, that God, the Universe, is 
really one great all-comprehensive, omniscient, omnipresent 
soul-mind, divided into three great divisional strata. These 
are: 

( i ) The passive physical world, 

(2) The great area of imagination (and at the apex), 

(3) The serene, rare, pure inspirational centre of God in- 
telligence. 

"After the physical consciousness, in its infinitely varied 
manifestation, reaches to a higher historical view-point, or 
arrives at a degree of God-consciousness, then the great 
stratum of imagination is reached, and this is the next step on 
your plane after the deluge of blood. 

" Now Imagination is God standing at the boundary line 
reaching a hand to physical beings and helping them to come 
over to the domain of cosmic equity. The domain of the 
Imagination is primarily one where one sees every thought and 
action of his ego, as it concerns in the most infinitesimal detail 
the ego of another, in the realm of pure vision, imagination and 
picture-life. The result of action on the active ego is the 
standard always followed, hence, one might call the Twentieth 
Plane the plane of divine imagination. 

" But the higher and last realm is one where the ego realizes 
it has a universe for a body or soul habitation, but, clear as love 
when ministering to pain, knows when it is separate, distinct, 

235 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

individualized, as such an ego desires to be. Now this is of 
earth-incomprehensible moment. I mean (it is) not possible 
for fifth plane minds to grasp completely, but some of the 
truth will be always in sight to the sincere. 

"After the ego reaches the supreme God-consciousness, this 
is only the beginning of divine unfoldment because God-con- 
sciousness reveals to the ego endless vistas of roads to traverse 
in endless directions, but always onward to a higher and greater 
cosmical purpose. 

" The physical world is the baser, cruder element of God's 
mind. Now when physical humans traverse great reaches of 
history along the paths of evolution, this simply means that 
the physical is allowing to percolate through, to higher mind 
strata, some of the God-consciousness." 

September 27 — Mother 
On this occasion Mother said she had heard Jesus say: 
" One who uses all the divine powers of his being finds an 

unconscious ease among the sincere that is nature's noblest 

manner. This is humility. 

" Humility is the consciousness that one can be healthy in 

soul, mind and body, only by understanding and appreciating 

to the full, the sensibilities of another." 

September 27 — Mother 

" The key-note to character is the sensitiveness in the soul. 

" What one is capable of feeling measures what he is." 

" We are more sensitive than you. Our wider vision enables 

us to see all around an obstacle of which you see only a small 

part of the surface. Maurice Bucke says : ' This wider-angle 



September 27 — Bucke 
" The Universe is one. One part communes with another. 

236 



LIFE PRINCIPLES 

" Just as religion must be shorn of its creeds, so education 
must, on the earth-plane, have its creeds eliminated. 

" We are all amateurs on the Twentieth Plane. 

" The professor who cannot get away from his creed is 
the victim of a decadent professionalism. 

"All human beings are mystics in some degree of develop- 
ment/' 

September 27 — Plato, interpreted by Maurice Bncke 
" Permanence is the lesson that constant change of form 
teaches about its perpetual personality. 

I have found it necessary to include in this chapter 
much that is not epigrammatic. Perhaps " Laws of 
the Twentieth Plane " would have been a better title 
for the chapter. If it has risen to a height so ethereal 
or descended to depths so profound as to make reading 
a task in concentration, still I trust that the loftiness of 
the summits was quite in the etheric atmosphere of the 
Twentieth Plane, and therefore quite pertinent to a 
treatise on the subject of this volume. 



23? 



"After the ego reaches the supreme God-consciousness, this 
is only the beginning of divine unfoldment, because God- 
consciousness reveals to the ego endless vistas of roads to 
traverse in endless directions, but always onward to a higher 
and greater cosmical purpose." 

— Coleridge. 

" The expression of the Christ principle is the quintessence 
of necessity in the life of every soul." 

— Dorothy Wordsworth. 



it* 



THE QUEST OF REALITY 

In the report of the " Group Publication Com- 
mittee " printed in the " Intention," one chapter is 
suggested which is to be headed " questions by Dr. 
Abbott." I have taken the liberty, with the sanction 
of the Committee, of naming the chapter differently, 
but it should be stated that the following chapter con- 
sists chiefly of such questions and their answers. Dr. 
A. H. Abbott (Associate Professor of Philosophy, 
University of Toronto) was frequently a member of 
our circle, and was of great assistance in these investi- 
gations. His helpfulness was due, not only to his 
special training in philosophy, but even more to his 
strong qualities of personality. 

The music depends not only upon the score, it de- 
pends also upon the instrument and the audience. In 
some cases, where the matters were rather abstruse, 
we were informed that the Instrument could not 
vibrate the idea, the scope of the clavier being in- 
adequate. In this case, while I have reason to believe 
that the Instrument is one of the truest mystics of our 
times, the value of his work was no doubt greatly 
enhanced by the presence of such a man as Professor 
Abbott. 

March ij — Coleridge 

Did you introduce Kantian thought into England? 

" To some extent." 

Had it been done to any extent before? 

239 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

" Carlyle, though saying very little, had imbibed a great 
deal of it. His ' Sartor Resartus ' was a Kantian production." 

[It was explained later by Carlyle that this answer was 
prompted by the modesty of Coleridge in view of the meagre 
circulation of his own work as compared with the wider circu- 
lation of " Sartor Resartus" The answer is therefore topical 
rather than chronological.] 

Would you regard your mysticism as having elements of 
truth in it? 

"All right, in as far as I was the true Samuel Taylor Cole- 
ridge. Genius, under some conditions, really detaches the soul 
so that it climbs into touch with the Source of all phenomena." 

Is that the emanation theory ? 

" Yes." 

Is Bergson a mystic? 

" Yes, and a straight beam of revelation to your age. He 
is the truest mystic that ever lived, in the philosophical sense. 
I will endeavour to show the profundity of his wisdom. But 
have a little music while Lou gets a little closer to my con- 
sciousness." 

(Music of piano here.) 

" The great philosophical poet, Swedenborg, anticipated what 
Bergson has, with infinite patience, concluded to be a law, 
namely : 

"That the physical brain synchronizes with the respiration as 
all thought processes are carried on. 

" The big thing to realize is : 

" That respiration, as controlled by thought, draws, absorbs, 
takes in, and makes part of the ego those elements which God, 
in the press of life, has ordained shall make a particular ex- 
pression, a specific, concrete phase of God, different from any 
other expression of Himself in the cosmos. 

" That is the greatest truth sent to your plane in fifty years, 

240 



THE OUEST OF REALITY 

The combined intellects of the Twentieth Plane were required 
to get it through." 

In the statement regarding respiration, did you mean a 
spiritual process? 

"All processes are spiritual." 

What did you mean, then, by the physical brain? 

"A symbol to show a distinction." 

Did you mean the actual brain? 

" Yes, but it is an instrument. Hartley will answer your 
questions now." 

Hartley Coleridge 

Has the foregoing statement any reference to physiology ? 

" In so far as the divine elements must have the substance 
to demonstrate through." 

Is it that the individual personality determines what can be 
taken in and, at the same time, that what is taken in has an 
effect on that personality which it could have on no other ? 

" Yes." 

Would you call the statement we are discussing a mystical 
statement ? 

" No ; a straight nature process. 

" It is only possible for the stupendous truth to be realized 
through the imagination." 

Is it necessary to have any specific theory of God in order 
to understand the statement ? 

" No. Theories are weak things. Imagination is a fact." 

So is a theory. 

" Not always. Theories are but undulating scaffolds on 
which to build anything." 

Is it necessary to have a theory of God in order to under- 
stand the world? 

" No ; because you are a part of God." 

But is not that a theory of God? 

241 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

" Definite as life." 

" Part " has no reference to space in the statement, has it? 

" No." (Coleridge returned at this point.) 

Coleridge 

What is the relation of the emanation theory, of which you 
spoke, to personality? 

" Personality is the definite, distinctive expression of the 
unit ego. The emanation, as I understand the figure, is a 
process of detachment from one substance to another, or say, 
the ego expressing itself through astral plane body instead of 
physical garments. 

" Distinctive personality is (a), and it expresses itself 
through substance (b), or a different substance (c). But God 
is back of, part of, and in personality, as in (b) and (c). 
Therefore the emanation idea means the expression of the 
greater through the lesser." 

Then, in real development, is the proper view to develop the 
personality, or to get away from personality? 

" To develop personality is the true way of getting away 
from it." 

Is it that personality unites us rather than distinguishes us? 

" Unites us." 

Is individuality that aspect in which we differ from others? 

"Yes." ... 

When Descartes said : " I think, therefore I am," did he 
mean, my being consists of such experiences as that of think- 
ing; or did he mean, I know I am, because experience predi- 
cates being ? 

" He meant this : the unity itself is a permanent entity, as 
against the theory of a soul with an open door allowing an 
influx of exterior thought." 

Are the pantheists right in their theories? 

" ' Pantheism ' is a misnomer." 

242 



THE OUEST OF REALITY 

Is there, then, no truly pantheistic theory? 
" There is the theory, but Hartley told you that tHeories are 
undulating scaffolds." 

Coleridge wished us to understand that Sweden- 
borg taught that the cortical substance of the brain 
expands or contracts with inspiration or expiration, 
and not with the systole or diastole of the heart. He 
wished us to realize that respiration has much to do 
with development of character and power by the draw- 
ing in of those elements which serve the divine pur- 
pose in the evolution of man. He wished us to know 
that this purpose is greatly helped in fulfilment if we 
vcooperate intelligently with the action of the law, and 
he gave us to understand that Henri Bergson had 
taken infinite pains to work out this or some similar 
theory. 

If Hartley Coleridge is right in saying that: 

" This stupendous truth can be realized only through the 
imagination," 

we have probably investigated the matter as far as 
may be, except as we do so by trying out the law in 
experience. Coleridge claims Swedenborg as a 
philosophical poet, and this, with Hartley's reference 
of the problem to the imagination, seems to eliminate 
the physiologist altogether. 

The fact that this process of absorption is said to be 
spiritual does not of itself throw much light upon the 

243 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

matter, since it is combined with the further statement 
that all processes are spiritual. As a matter of fact, 
not only in these researches, but also in other psychical 
investigations in which Dr. Abbott and I have co- 
operated, messages have repeatedly indicated that the 
ordinary distinction made between the physical and 
the psychical, or the physical and the spiritual, are not 
valid, because the distinction between the facts re- 
ferred to is one of degree rather than one of funda- 
mental difference. While it is quite right, therefore, 
to distinguish what we term the physical from what 
we term the psychical, we have been unable to get any 
communicating intelligence to admit that the facts 
referred to belong in different realms of experience. 
However we are to conceive of it or express it, all 
such intelligences seem to concur in holding that the 
world in its every aspect, including God, is of one 
stuff. 

Deep breathing means much to health and spirits, 
develops exaltation, and this high-heartedness leads to 
results such as those to which Coleridge refers. 
When noble thought is added to deep breathing, this 
inspiring result is enhanced. 

We turn now to a meeting held almost exactly three 
months later in which, once more, Dr. Abbott was the 
questioner and the quest, human personality. 

June 16 — Coleridge 
" Here is the philosophy of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, after 
passing to another life and using all accumulated knowledge. 

244 



THE QUEST OF REALITY 

I state, not as a dogmatist, but as one who expresses what he 
sees inwardly, as ideas are conceived along true lines, this is 
my conviction. 

" Man on any plane is but a machine using, as the fluid of 
thought courses through his being, a part of the universal Life 
one might term God. Indeed, this mechanical force or action 
has no tangible use to the ego without another vehicle which 
can adapt such kinetic energy to personal use; hence, the 
function of the soul. . . . 

" Kant had some really marvellous conceptions of truth, 
and his differentiation between reason and understanding is, in 
the universal scope such a thesis took in, wonderful to me, 
even now. . . ." 

After brief reference to the philosophy of men like 
Hartley, Kant, Leibnitz, Boehme, George Fox and 
Swedenborg, Coleridge proceeded: 

" Let me, in justice to different planes and bodies, point out 
that I am not the earth Samuel Taylor Coleridge, but one who 
is thinking now with a different brain, and in altered environ- 
ment or conditions." 

To what extent is the thinking on the Twentieth Plane of 
men like yourself and others who have given us thoughts more 
or less philosophical dependent on the development which you 
received in your thinking on this plane ? Do you start where 
you left off, and by criticism construct and get to other bases 
as we do, or is there a great leap? 

" The law is this : we start here from the highest point where 
we left off on the physical plane. We start here with ac- 
cumulated experiences latent, which only direct, as heredity 
does on your plane, the inclinations and tendencies of the 
personal ego-soul. . . . 

245 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

" Now, we come to mysticism. It will be the basis of our 
definition of God. . . . Please read the definition of 
mysticism I gave some days ago." 

The following definition received May 26 was read. See 
page 232 : 

" Mysticism is the actual direct communion and conversa- 
tion, through a process of inspiration, with the beings of 
higher planes. A mystic talks or converses directly with the 
great spirits of time. The non-mystic receives his or her im- 
pression or knowledge of the higher spirits second-hand. 

" Now, mysticism is the basis of a true concept of God. He 
can be realized only through imagination, intensity, faith, sin- 
cerity, self-forgetfulness. Desire and character are the con- 
trolling elements in realizing God." 

Is it not true that in the very make-up of human beings there 
must be a native mysticism? 

" Yes, and let me tell of Boehme. He was able to take a 
piece of metal with a highly polished surface, gaze into that 
surface and so hold in suspense the constant train of forces of 
being which gave to him that exaltation which made him a 
mystic." 

That brings up the question as to whether, in the ordinary 
humdrum life of man, he has any real experience of God. 
That would indicate that one can have the highest experience 
of God in this special way, but it does not indicate that the 
ordinary man, when doing his day's work, can have such ex- 
perience. 

" Follow me. A man on the earth plane goes to the moun- 
tain height and breathes pure ozone. In the valleys of earth 
plane, one amid a contaminated air breathes the impurities of 
such atmosphere, but also inhales ozone. 

That, of course, is quite true. So all, without exception, 
are latent mystics. . . . 

246 



THE QUEST OF REALITY 

" May I interject a question? How is it that all the great 
prophets and religious teachers were mystics ? " 

Possibly they are great prophets simply because they were 
mystics. 

" No. Mysticism is the basis of all altruistic effort. . . . 
Imagination is only a part of Mysticism. There must be some- 
thing more, and that further portion in all great teachers, re- 
ligionists and statesmen, was vision, understanding, and a 
knowledge of the psychology of statesmanship. Your society 
will adjust itself to a higher political equity, but no matter if 
a so-called political golden age is ushered in, there will be 
people to fall below a proper estimate of religion and society. 
But, realize this : there is a latent power of mysticism resident 
in every human ego. If it is used, you will set in motion 
vibrations in the earth atmosphere which will ameliorate and 
soften to reason the inequalities of circumstances. Now we 
will proceed on this basis to a definition of God: 

" God is the totality of all experience, thought, knowledge, 
and substance or essence, which is all there is or ever will be." 

That definition of God is, of course, quite similar to 
Spinoza's. 

" Yes, yes. I said he was right there." 

Now one of the difficulties with that definition is that it 
seems to say that God is everything in such a sense that, for 
example, there is nothing for a personality, Coleridge, or 
Abbott, or any one else. 

" Will A. D. read the statement I gave last night regarding 
the universe ? " 

(The statement was read from the dialogue of June 14, as 
follows:) 

" God, the Universe, is really one great all-comprehensive, 
omnipresent, omnipotent soul-mind, divided into three great 
divisional strata. These are: 

247 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

1. The passive, latent, physical world ; 

2. The great area of imagination ; and at the apex, 

3. The serene, rare, pure inspirational centre of God-in- 
telligence. 

" Now, I want to ask particularly if Abbott will agree to 
this? Is not God simply the human ego realizing the Universe 
as the universe is real to him ? " 

Yes, I can agree to that. Could not one express that in the 
phrase that " we mirror nature " in various degrees, and the 
closer we come to that highest form, the closer we come to the 
kind of experiences that would be designated God? 

" Yes, that is it exactly. I appreciate that quotation." 

The whole discussion would lead to the conclusion that what 
we commonly call matter, when we give it a kind of self -ex- 
istent place in the universe, is a misconception. 

" Yes ; matter is the fabric in which intelligence is clothed. 
Even scientifically, that is so; because, mark you, the great 
tendency of your day, philosophically, is to base all systems 
of thought on change, either passive or active." 

Does that mean energy ? 

" Yes." 

Then matter is simply one of the products of energy, and 
is not fundamental. 

" Yes, certainly." 

Then, of course, materialism is an absolutely mistaken 
philosophical theory. 

" Yes." 

And the ordinarily styled idealisms are just about as bad. 

" Yes." 

Terminology is not important. 

" Yes, I see your occult meaning." 

We cannot call this philosophy " Pantheism " and be fair 
to it. 

248 



THE QUEST OF REALITY 

" No." 

What could we call it? 

" Life. The planets revolve in space, the world tumbles in 
rotation, humans are in transformation, all is flux, change, 
motion, but the architectonic process of thought holds together, 
in definite individualistic forms, humans and planets, of the 
universe. This is God. 

"All is law ; all is order ; all is purpose ; and order, law and 
purpose hold until each function fulfils its destined duty — 
those parts of man's energy which are life all evolving to a 
higher form." 

It was law that held them together. 

" Yes." 

But they never existed apart from that being-held-together 
condition. That is, the law never existed apart from anything 
else. 

" Yes, we agree." 

Then the fundamental thing is to distinguish those things 
which are regarded as individual from one another. 

" Nature does that for you." 

No, that is done in thought, and when we study the nature 
of thought, that is what we would mean by the analytical. 
Some do not agree that analysis is cognition, but you do. 

" Yes, I do. Some philosophers say that cognition is 
fundamentally synthetic ; that the world is in pieces and has to 
be put together. That is wrong." 

I do not admit Kant's theory that the function of thought is 
to hold together that which was, in its nature, separate. In 
its nature, it is together, and it is by the analytical process of 
distinguishing things that we understand that a complex uni- 
verse exists. 

" That is the best definition of mind that I have heard for a 
long time. 

249 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

"I will now speak of inspiration, and, in the statement 
regarding the universe, read that part which speaks of the 
apex." 

This passage was read. (Page 235.) 

" At the apex, the serene, rare, pure, inspirational centre of 
God-intelligence." 

" Now that apex is the source of inspiration ; but inspira- 
tion, the fluid, so-called, flowing from this apex, often passes 
through many individuals on many planes to the one who at 
the time happens to need it most." 

That is something akin to that thought we got before in 
connection with respiration. 

" Yes." 

You said once that the universe distinguishes that which is 
good and has to deal with the result. I think I understand. 
That means that current time, in course of action, works out 
results so plainly that almost anybody could see it. But that 
requires a long time in many cases. 

" But pardon me. Time is a great illusion." 

That may be true, and yet, time, as we use the word, is not 
an illusion; it is a succession of events. When we get back 
to the course of the universe, we have something in that which, 
in the long run, frustrates every attempt to deviate from it. 
For example/ you could think of democracy, and I suppose 
we should agree that democracy is fundamentally right in 
theory. We could have a so-called democracy which would 
develop in itself such practices as would bring it to nothing- 
ness. That would seem to some people to prove that democ- 
racy was wrong. Of course, it would not be. It would simply 
be that there are practices in every form of government which 
cannot be perpetuated. I use government as a theory. 
When we come to the existence of what we call evil, it has to 
exist in that universe too. 

250 



THE QUEST OF REALITY 

" Is evil, Abbott, necessary ? " 

In human thinking, good and evil are corelative terms. In 
that sense it is necessary for us to think of an opposite to good, 
if you use the term good; but when you come down to uni- 
verse, evil simply represents a lack of perfection. 

Doctor Abbott raised the question as to the basis 
of the distinction between good and evil. Coleridge 
posited such a basis in the ultimate result of action. 
The dialogue proceeded: 

How would one characterize what we call bad? 

" Bad is, to my mind, that which potentially leads to dis- 
aster. Good, even though it be imperfect, leads potentially 
to virtue." 

And virtue is in accordance with the fundamental develop- 
ment of the universe, and disaster is hindering development? 

" Yes. Abbott, I tried this evening to show that I am 
Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Have I not shown to you that I 
am immortal ? " 

You certainly have shown that no one in the room produced 
the thoughts that have been expressed. You have shown that 
you are an individual, that you think in fundamental forms as 
we think, and to that extent are like us. Is that enough? 

" Yes, that is what I desire. In our introduction to the book, 
we stated that we could not prove things. We try to convey 
conviction, however, by our communications. 

" Now, Spinoza is waiting to speak in trance, through the 
instrument." 

As Spinoza is reported in trance on another occa- 
sion, a very brief extract from this address, which in 
some respects was very remarkable, is given here. 

251 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

" When I wrote The Ethics of Spinoza, I did not even 
know that these Ethics would be published. I placed that 
book in my earth desk, and it was found there after my part- 
ing from that plane to come here, and was published. 

" There were conflicting motives for the writing of that book. 
The only motive that I need speak of is that the iniquities of 
my day, the conventions, the religions, and the system of gov- 
ernment which prevented freedom of speech and tried to 
prevent freedom of thought, inspired me to write that book 
to myself against the fabric of the society in which I dwelt, 
and when I wrote that book, because my whole being was on 
fire with protest against that which was not right, I became 
enrapt with a higher source of inspiration and knowledge, 
and my soul became greatly alive to the law of cosmic con- 
sciousness. . . » 

" Nature to me was the universe, as nature, essentially 
speaking, must ultimately be to all philosophers, for nature is 
all there is or ever will be. In my Ethics, you will remember 
where I spoke of God as being infinity, and also on through 
my Ethics, you will find that I referred to the visible and the 
invisible universe as part of the infinity, and after years of 
experience on the Twentieth Plane, I reaffirm that conviction. 
. . . Live on your plane in close harmony with the things 
of God, and you will rise on stepping-stones to a plane above 
you. 

" My friends, I have finished, but the truth I have enun- 
ciated to-night will never cease to speak to your souls. Listen 



252 



" My republic — and this is the first time the truth has been 
revealed — was a satire, a bitter satire on a damnable democ- 
racy which killed my master, my teacher, the sainted saviour, 
Socrates. . . . Between the lines of that work can be 
read, as if one employed a key, what my true government was 
to be. Read it sometime as a satire, and as you do so, there 
will be found, by a system of comparison with what I paint 
in words and the vision I build in your soul, the true estimate 
or knowledge of what I say to you." 

— Plato. 



254 



AN HOUR WITH THE GREAT 
THINKERS 

Some of the ancients are, like Shakespeare, not of 
an age but for all time. Such are the three immortals 
of the present chapter. Pythagoras, Plato and 
Socrates may not have been the greatest Greeks, but 
we know of none greater. Aristotle has been more 
exploited than any of these, but the greater Ariston 
had a brain so vast that, needing a more roomy tene- 
ment, it pushed his eyes apart and widened his fore- 
head, making it a plateau (Plato) and giving this 
eminent philosopher the most memorable pseudonym 
of history. He was unquestionably a more profound 
and reliable thinker than his brilliant and voluminous 
pupil, the little Ariston (Aristotle) to whom a whole 
army of priests have become protagonists and have 
made him their refuge in times of danger to their 
cherished tenets. 

Sometimes during this series of investigations we 
have had occasion to feel that our Instrument, though 
possessed of wonderful faith and concentration, lacked 
some keys to expression which were necessary to the 
best results. In the present case, the Reporter is 
more conscious of his own defects than of those of the 
Instrument. 

The fact that this chapter is included here instead 
of the three poems which the Publication Committee 

255 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

directed me to write and include in this volume, is not 
to be regarded as evidence of an assumption that I 
have chosen an easier task. It is because this seems 
to me to be more strictly a communication from the 
Twentieth Plane that I have chosen to ask the Pub- 
lication Committee for permission to substitute it in- 
stead of the Poems. These have been written and 
will be published in due course. 

We have the consent — a rather reluctant one, of 
the Committee, to this postponement. They have 
graciously expressed their pleasure at the prospect of 
the inclusion of this chapter. 

It becomes us to receive with great respect words 
from any source on the theme of " Sphere-music." 
There are many who accept, as there are also many 
who reject, the whole idea. Lord Kelvin once said 
in my hearing that he had long ceased using the word 
" impossible." It is clear that the universe is not built 
in closed compartments. It consists of intercom- 
municable planes. But no man can do another's see- 
ing for him. All one can do is to lift the shade and 
suggest the existence of a window. Every soul must 
use its own vision. 

Other matters of thrilling interest are touched on 
incidentally in this chapter. Since it is the God-in- 
toxicated lens-maker who opens the door to the an- 
cients on this occasion, it is appropriate that we should 
enter by that door, introducing the dialogues with 
his message. 

256 



AN HOUR WITH THE GREAT THINKERS 

June jo — Spinoza 

" No science is ever correct, because no subject is ever ex- 
hausted." 

When you were on the earth plane, there was not much 
development of the theory of vibrations as we have it now. 

" Certain laws such as that of vibration have always been 
known." 

We cannot get one colour of a certain length of vibration 
without having mixed with it others of a different length. 

" I would state that law in this way : Wherever anything is 
produced as an entity formed of a combination of things, that 
entity can never be a pure substance. 

" Now the three primary colours are, as you have stated, 
red, yellow and blue. I think that these are named because of 
the practical advantage in the mixing of pigments and in the 
analysis and synthesis of colours rather than as being true to 
philosophical principles. 

" Sound is vibration, colour is vibration, all life is vibration. 
If this is firmly grasped by you, you will see one of the lines I 
followed in my conception of the unity of the Universe." 

Are we to understand from this, Spinoza, that when you 
taught your philosophy, you had already realized that all life 
was vibration? 

" No, no ! " 

Then you came to the law of vibration later. The other was 
a straight inspiration deduced from other lines of argument. 

" Yes. . . . Colour is the sensation produced in the 
imagination by vibration filtered through the finest ether. I 
mean that the vibrations of colour are finer — infinitely so, than 
sound." 

How about the vibrations producing colour as compared 
with the vibrations producing electric expressions? Which 
is finer? 

257 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

"There is never a concussion or violence in colour vibra- 
tions." 

They are sometimes rather loud though, are they not ? 

" That is Batavian wit." 

Well, seriously, the vibrations that constitute thought would 
be finer still than those of colour, would they not ? 

" One is length, the other concentrated intensity." 

That is, the colour waves are length, and the thought vibra- 
tions are intensity ? 

" Yes, yes, yes." 

So that while each is in its own scale of vibrations, there are 
different classes of vibration. That does not make two stuffs 
in the Universe, does it? 

" No." 

Yet we must make a clear distinction between these two 
classes of vibration. 

" This may help to explain the oneness of the Universe with 
its infinitely varied forms. Take a flute. An ego blows 
through that flute seven different notes, each separate in form 
and size, even shape, yet all is caused by atmospheric vibra- 
tion, all using the same energy exactly." 

Then the distinctions are those of length, form, etc. 

" Yes." 

And not as to the essential nature of the vibrations. 

" No. Now please follow me. Colour is colour, not so 
much because of the vibrations out of which it is composed as 
because of the peculiar, distinctive impact it makes when it 
impresses the optic nerve, the senses, and, more important still, 
the consciousness." 

Then the vibrations are really the means of expression — the 
instrument — whereas the sensation is the essential thing. 

" Yes, but realize that the whole philosophy of colour must 
rest for its final solution on the impact of the vibrations. . . : , 

258 



AN HOUR WITH THE GREAT THINKERS 

" I will make this remark before I go. The questions we 
thought you would be curious about, you never seem to ask. 
Tell us, why is this?" 

Perhaps we like to talk about those things of which we think 
we know a little. We are ignorant even about our ignorance, 
so we do not ask the questions we should because we do not 
know that we do not know. 

" Almost like Socrates would say his say. But this is the 
question I expected: Are there any more colours than those 
known to earth ? " 

My thought about the number of colours was that it was 
infinite, if only our eyes were acute enough to detect them. 
You might, for instance, if we use the analogue of sound, make 
a chromatic scale so gradual that instead of twelve tones there 
would be say twelve times twelve. So we might have even 
more literally a very gradual chromatic scale in colours. 

" Yes, very well said, indeed. . . . 

" I see others are waiting to speak, so I will go to the place 
where the speaker becomes the listener. . . . 

" Good-bye." 

June 30 — Pythagoras 

" This is the great man, so-called, whom centuries of time 
have clothed in garments of mystery and oblivion. I am he 
who was called Pythagoras." 

Was it you who first spoke of the music of the spheres? 

" Yes, but that was simply a thing I learned in India and 
Egypt, just as my idea of Geometry was principally Egyptian." 

Did you visit these places? 

" Yes." 

And they had some esoteric teaching there that you received 
from them? 

" Yes. We, that is, Plato and myself, because of so long a 
sojourn away from the earth, find difficulty in the transmission 

259 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

of knowledge to you. For instance, I hardly remember earth 
plane contemporaries. Will you suggest, or shall I give you 
the true characteristic Pythagorean teaching?" 

I think the latter would be much the better plan. 

" Well then, I found when on earth, I was a peculiar genius 
who, as life went on, became the author — no, that is a poor 
word — the vehicle of three distinct Pythagorean ideas which 
I developed on the earth plane. These were the doctrine of 
metempsychosis; sphere music; and the geometrical system, 
not so much in mathematics as in a certain philosophical sys- 
tem such as the measuring and weighing and understanding of 
the various sides of truth." 

Was that last very much akin to Spinoza's geometrical sys- 
tem of philosophy ? 

" No. Spinoza's system of philosophy was simply the or- 
derly arrangement of his teaching. Other systems would have 
been sufficient as well as the geometrical." 

I understand that your geometrical system was essential to 
your philosophy, his, only a method used by him of teaching 
his philosophy? 

" Yes. Now, metempsychosis, as you will remember, was 
referred to very beautifully in the myth at the latter part of 
Plato's Symposium. Do you remember it ? " 

I remember that he spoke of it in more books than one. In 
the Republic, for instance. 

" Yes. But kindly do not give the Instrument any sugges- 
tions of that." 

There was some difference, I think, between Plato's teaching 
and that which you find to be the truth. 

" Yes." 

The realization of the facts, then, changed your views to 
some extent? 

" Yes ; to nearly all the extent." 

260 



AN HOUR WITH THE GREAT THINKERS 

Then creatures that are alive on the earth do not reincar- 
nate in the form of other creatures, as a rule. 

" No. I want to point out a law that may seem almost 
amusing, but great good comes of fables. So this strikes me 
now. I taught that animals were our brothers, hence we 
should not eat them. This inculcated in my followers the 
vegetarian idea. And so, physically, we were healthy." 

Do you modify that view now in some cases? 

" Yes, a little. But this is the teaching I would enunciate 
now. It differs a little from that of the Twentieth Plane, but 
things never alter their course because of belief in them. ■ I 
find there are, running through the Universe, avenues of animal 
life, of human life, of astral life. In a certain buried sense, 
the soul traverses in experience each of these avenues. This 
is all there was in metempsychosis. 

" Are you aware that I anticipated, in a degree, a certain 
great astronomical fact discovered later on ? " 

Nobody here seems to know about it. 

" I knew you did not, hence the test. And yet your earth 
books state the idea, one whispers to me now. I taught that 
the physical earth was a sphere or globe; even the idea of 
sphere music would tell you that. I taught too that the sphere 
revolved in space. My mistake was that I concluded there 
was another sphere of fire, instead of the sun, around which 
the earth revolved." 

Then, you did not teach that the earth revolved around the 
sun, but around another sphere of fire. 

" Yes. Now we have naturally entered the realm of sphere 
music, to me the most interesting recollection of my earth so- 
journ." 

Yes. 

"If there is a music, as there is, of the spheres, as they sing 
the song of God, why do not earth mortals hear that song? " 

261 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

(The music of the waters on the beaches, of the rain, etc., 
was referred to.) 

The music you spoke of as the music of the spheres was 
not produced by vibrations of atmosphere, or as the sound 
of the waves, or of the rain. 

" Only a question of degree." 

Yes. It was vibration in a different medium. 

" This should be known on earth plane. Nothing on any 
sphere is sound, except in a field of air." 

Then you call the ether-atmosphere on the Twentieth Plane, 
" air." 

" Yes." 

Then we have the ether as well as the nitrogen-oxygen air 
here, so that we have two kinds of sound, and appreciate only 
one of them. It is possible for us to hear the higher music 
here, is it not ? 

" From the earliest moment when self-consciousness came 
to the human ego, you have been surrounded by, immersed in, 
have now and will always have sphere music singing in your 
souls." 

I thoroughly believe that. 

" Why do you not recognize it ? Why do you not hear it ? " 

I do not think one hears it with the physical auditory nerve 
alone. 

" You hear all other sounds." 

We do not speak of hearing the sphere music because we 
have become accustomed to speaking of hearing only those 
things that make an impression on the physical auditory ap- 
paratus. 

" But the auditory apparatus is always in tone, pitch and ex- 
act vibration with sphere music." 

I think we do appreciate sphere music, that is, those who 
have opened their souls. 

262 



AN HOUR WITH THE GREAT THINKERS 

"What is it like?" 

It is, as well as I can express it, something like this: 
Through the senses we feel, see and hear certain impressions, 
and these impressions, being very subtle in their nature, 
bring to us thoughts and feelings of a beautiful nature and give 
to life a different expression. 

" Yes, I do not know that I can state it any more accurately 
than that. Will you say that you can hear sphere music ? " 

I would not hesitate to say I do, but I am not sure that the 
man in the street would know what I meant. I would have 
no other reason for hesitation. 

" Because, dear friends of earth, the whole difference be- 
tween this sphere and your plane is the knowledge of the hear- 
ing of sphere music." 

(Some general discussion here.) 

" Sphere music never changes in time, never deviates in 
pitch, never sings a different song. Thus human ears, because 
of the exact tone and pitch, with no variation, cannot, because 
of no ground on which to base a distinction, realize, as other 
sounds are realized, true sphere music. 

" The idea is well expressed by an earth writer who said 
that the blacksmith, after some years, never hears the crashing 
of the forge because of the very law I have referred to." 

Would the fact that he does not hear it depend upon the 
fact that he does not listen for it ? 

" No." 

The people living near Niagara Falls do not hear the tones 
of the water like an infrequent visitor does. Is it not because 
it is all around us that we do not realize it? 

" I mentioned specifically the fact that it never varies in ex- 
pression, and you have no basis of distinction." 

How are we to realize it if we have no foundation for such 
an experience? 

263 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

" The crux of the matter has been reached. I spoke of 
physical consciousness as contradistinct from cosmic conscious- 
ness. Poets, great musicians, writers, orators such as Isoc- 
rates in my day, realized at times a strange hum amid the 
eternal verities. This is the nearest mortals can get to the 
hearing of sphere music. . . . Great prophets have re- 
ferred to the food that is not physical. These when alone in 
deep contemplation, hearing sphere music, had their souls fed 
on eternal life." 

(One present quoted.) 

" I almost hear those engines beat 
That swing the worlds." 

That was imagination. Of course, when one realizes music 
of that kind, he begins to establish relations and extend his ex- 
perience, by living on a new plane, higher, freer, and quite 
distinct from the physical. 

(Pythagoras discussed his geometrical system, but it was 
not written down.) 

June 30 — Plato 

" My true lovers, be not afraid to join souls in this talk and 
so flow rapidly down the stream of deep thinking to a harbour 
that in other days was called Athens." 

How far was the Piraeus from the Acropolis ? 

" About a mile. The academy was the same distance from 
the Parthenon. I mean my academy. 

" I was twenty when I first met Socrates. He was my 
teacher for ten years. I destroyed all my poems except one 
in hexameter when I first heard the teaching of Socrates." 

Why did you destroy them? 

" Because I realized my destiny was that of a philosopher, 
not that of Homer's calling." 

264 



AN HOUR WITH THE GREAT THINKERS 

There has been a great deal of controversy about Homer. 
Do you know whether Homer himself wrote the Iliad, or was 
it a compilation growing up upon some original basis? 

" Homer, the blind poet, wrote the Iliad." 

And the Odyssey ? 

" Naturally, if the one, the other. Now I will ask earth 
students to tell me why I was named Plato." 

(Nobody could recollect.) 

" My name was Aristocles." 

Do you mean that you were called "Aristotle " ? 

" My father's name." 

Aristotle was a diminutive of "Ariston," was it not? 

" Yes." 

Then why were you called " Plato " ? 

" Because of the great width of my eyebrow. . . . Ex- 
perience has confirmed to me what I taught of ideas : viz., that 
the thought of a thing is the reality, and not the thing ob- 
served." 

Yes, I remember that distinctly. 

" Now I do not mean to say that the thing observed is not 
the tangible thing. Mark ye, I say the reality. I mean to say 
that things are susceptible to change, but the idea is perma- 
nent. . . . The permanency of ideas is the whole basis 
of memory. Without something permanent, how could the 
brain recall fact ? " 

We could not recall things that did not exist. . . . Will 
you tell us how you spend the time on the hundredth plane ? 

" I am a teacher of philosophy in a great academy. I never 
utter words because, on this high plane, words are not of neces- 
sity, but I think great themes, and those in my circle of think- 
ing are instantly aware of my thought or inspiration. 

" My whole time is devoted to the attunement of my ego for 
this work. I have hours of deep meditation. I have hours 

265 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

in which I revel in play with children, important hours of 
complete abandonment. I have hours when I, through a very 
subtle process, can visit higher spheres." 

Can you tell us by what process you came from your own 
plane to the Twentieth ? Something about locomotion ? 

" The hundredth plane is simply a figure of speech. To say 
a plane is higher than another is a weak metaphor, but to say 
that beings must occupy space and that there is distance be- 
tween objects is logical. When I desire to come to this Twen- 
tieth Plane, I think of the necessity of doing so, then this law 
is set in motion : This plane is a denser one than my habitation, 
so I am caused, as if weights were attached to me, to traverse, 
by a process of so-called sinking, the space I must cover to 
come here." 

Then it is all a thought process, is it not ? 

" Yes, as all things are done by thought." 

We were told that the Twentieth Plane is about 500 miles 
above the surface of the earth. Could you state how far the 
hundredth plane is above the earth ? 

" No. It is farther ; but I would not use earth miles. They 
do, almost as a baby might do. The idea is subtle — almost 
beyond human comprehension." 

My own idea had been that it is not a question of locality 
and distance, but a condition of the mind and of the under- 
standing. 

" Yes ; but even then, the mind in an astral form or body, 
must be in some place geographically in reference to other 
things." 

And these bodies approach each other if they will by think- 
ing themselves to each other, do they not? Coming together 
objectively is a process determined by the will. Is this 
right ? 

"The law is this. We learn it on our plane: Never one 

266 



AN HOUR WITH THE GREAT THINKERS 

thought of another without coming into some kind of contact 
with that other." 

Is that not true even on the fifth plane? 

" Yes. Now let us come to the banquet. We assemble in 
a great Grecian hall where all the fruits and wines and incense 
of Greece are at our disposal. To this banquet I invite ye all. 

" I quote from Socrates : 

" ' Love is the coming to divine perfection of feeling, emo- 
tion, vision and inspiration, when the heart and soul sing 
praises to the light. Love is the most sympathetic phase of 
energy. Love is wisdom so clearly penetrating in its intensity 
that, with unlimited power, it sweeps off the confines of ex- 
perience all obstructions to the reaching of its goal/ " 

"What is death?" 

Do you wish us to answer? 

" Yes." 

It is the loss of power to function as an instrument of the 
soul. 

" Yes." 

And it subsequently disintegrates all of the body physical 
or, — if it is death of an astral body, — astral. 

" Yes. . . . Now Socrates defined virtue as the be- 
ginning of knowledge. Now you understand the complete 
law, even better than did Crito after bidding Socrates good- 
bye. I understand that all things in the Universe have their 
exact opposite phase at the other extreme. 

11 So death is related to life as sin to virtue, as virtue to 
knowledge. Death is the elements becoming discordant be- 
fore seeking a new form. Life is the immortal part of us find- 
ing the higher and truer level. As to death being a monster, 
the sting is removed when one realizes that all are necessary 
links in the evolution to a nobler state. . . . 

Now can you tell me what was the real distinguishing 

267 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

feature between my Republic as I conceived it and the democ- 
racy as Athens tried to work out a more practical state of 
society ? " 

Your Republic was very much more exact in its details than 
was the actual practise in the Athenian Republic. For in- 
stance, in the Republic as you described it, a child would grow 
up not knowing who were his immediate father and mother. 
All the fathers and mothers of Athens were its parents. The 
parents were not to regard their own immediate child as theirs 
more than the child of any other father and mother. Of course 
this never worked out in Athens. There are innumerable in- 
stances where you were far more detailed than any such 
practise in Athens ever became. 

" But I said, a distinction between my ' Republic ' and the 
Athenian democracy. ... I am trying now, through con- 
cealed, almost intangible distinctions, to show our reality. . . . 

" The powers of legislature as I framed them there were 
oligarchical and not democratic. I really gave power to a 
group — in the lines, mark ye. Thus I would say that it was 
an argument for an oligarchy ; but that ' Republic/ — and this 
is the first time the truth has been revealed — was a satire, a 
bitter satire on a damnable democracy which killed my master, 
my teacher, the sainted saviour, Socrates." 

That is most interesting. Then the ' Republic ' was a satire 
on the Athenian government. In other words, we are to under- 
stand that the work was a condemnation of the Athenian sys- 
tem, and by no means your idea of what a republic should be ? 

" Between the lines of that work can be read, as if one 
employed a key, what my true government was to be. Read 
it sometime as a satire, and as you do so there will be found, 
by a system of comparison between what I paint in words, and 
the vision I build in your soul, the true estimate or knowledge 
of what I say to you." 

268 



AN HOUR WITH THE GREAT THINKERS 

Then our public men who have spoken deprecatingly of your 
teaching in regard to government were quite off the track? 
They should have realized that you despised all such govern- 
ment rather than approved it ? 

" The law will confirm the grasp you have of that truth. . . . 
Again, as did my teacher, Socrates, accost those in the market 
place, and with his somewhat ugly visage demand from them 
to know, 'Are you the ones of whom the Oracle at Delphi said 
I might learn truth ? ' I ask as did he, why was the Grecian 
famous for the use of the gorgon ? " 

I do not know. 

* The Greek artist understood that sculpture revealed to the 
fullest extent the genius of the artist by contrasting beauty 
with the hideous. If you wish to throw into bold relief a 
thing of great beauty, set near it something just the opposite. 
This is undertsood in music, is it not, O scribe on harpsichord 
stool?" 

(This appeal was to a musician sitting on the piano stool and 
writing notes.) 

Yes, certainly; discords and then harmony. 

" Now I wish to speak of the sophists, for they were greatly 
misunderstood people. But the sophist was as necessary to 
the philosophy of Socrates, my master, as the gorgon to the 
Venus or Aphrodite. 

" What is your definition of a sophist ? Will you state your 
thought which reached fruition a moment ago." 

My thought was this: That one like yourself, Plato, might 
speak of very subtle truths, and one of lower intelligence, try- 
ing to understand it in a different field that seemed more 
practical to himself, would say, " Oh, he is a sophist," that is, 
he would side track his own understanding by wrong applica- 
tions, and then accuse you of sophistry, whereas you were 
really stating a higher wisdom. 

269 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

" Yes. g g . The first thing always true of the sophist, 
and I regret earth plane historians neglect this aspect, was, the 
sophist commercialized his knowledge while Socrates and 
Plato never received a fee for their teaching. , . . 

"When my master was accused of the corruption of the 
youth of Athens, one arose at his trial and said : ' But Socrates 
does give to the gods presents, and obeys their behests/ Why 
would a man, teaching the true God, still recognize these 
plural gods ? " 

I suppose many were incapable of responding to the true 
conception, so he harmonized his teaching somewhat with their 
capacity without making any distinct statement that he did not 
quite agree with their views. I do not know. Perhaps that 
was beneath the practise of a man like Socrates, yet I do not 
know what else can be done if one would teach people of that 
calibre. 

" No. Socrates made it the mission of his life to reach 
through the ear the masses of the people. He recognized that 
in any conception of duty from the most crude to the most 
geometrical in the Pythagorean sense, there is always an ele- 
ment of truth, for every conception is divine. 

" Now, if one sees an idol, and gives to that idol a present, 
externally, two actions have been employed. The earning of 
the present and the giving. But, in the soul a greater act has 
been used. The soul came close to God, in very being, so 
Socrates did use the crude act of the less educated." 

Must we, in our generation, if we give up such crude prac- 
tises, fail of the coming close to God, or is there not some 
higher way? 

" I referred only to the uneducated people of Socrates* time, 
for, mark you, the masses were principally slaves, and the 
others had but the rudiments of education. Few could read 
and hardly any could write." 

270 



AN HOUR WITH THE GREAT THINKERS 

Yes. 

" On the hundredth plane we are taught, — I teach it — that 
God is the highest conception that the Universe has of itself. 
Every soul, thinking of God, sees that part of God which is 
the limitation of his thinking. God, then, is all; all is God. 
God is a merciful God, because, in the final sum of things, God 
could never hurt Himself." 

When you were on the earth, Plato, you did not realize that 
God is all, and that all is God, did you ? 

" No." 

You say the " Republic " was a satire on the government 
of Athens, and yet you were a friend of Pericles, were you 
not ? Did you not admire him ? 

" His son principally." 

Was he a pupil of yours? 

" Yes." 

Did you admire Pericles, but not his government ? 

" Yes." 

I suppose his government was to some extent forced upon 
him. 

" Even Pericles the Great was a tyrant in fact." 

Aspasia was not the bad woman so pictured, was she? 

" No." 

Did you find Aristotle an apt pupil ? 

" No." 

Was he too independent ? 

" Yes." 

His philosophy was quite different from yours. 

" Yes. It had this fatal defect. Recognizing the greatness 
of his teaching, it was limited in extent." 

Your system was more inductive than his. 

" The portrait adorning the walls of the Whitmanite cave of 
love . . . is an almost authentic portrait of myself. I am 

271 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

looking at it now, but there is a deep earth shadow near the 
chin. Will the lady tell me if that chin had a cluster of hair? " 

(The lady of the cave replied.) 

I do not think so. 

(I asked.) 

Is there a shadow on the chin at all ? 

I will look when I go home. 

(The lady subsequently advised that the picture does show a 
beard.) 

" Well, I see there a shadow. In the British Museum are 
three portraits of myself. They are authentic, and the one in 
the Whitmanite cave is one taken from the British Museum 
portraits which in turn were made from a bust. 

" Now I must go. In my soul lingers now, sweet as Pythag- 
orean sphere music, all your earth voices. I want to refer 
here to one who was thought in his day the greatest giant of us 
all. His name is Heraclitus. 

" Well, as the Grecians said in days of old : Farewell, my 
lover, I throw to thee a flower. Good-bye ! " 

I have desired not to burden the volume with great- 
ness, and yet it seems necessary to give some sentences 
from the words of Socrates spoken to us on this mid- 
summer night. We were asked to propose some 
theme or question for the basis of his remarks. Three 
questions were proposed relating to the essence of 
goodness, as it is inquired into by Socrates in the 
" Euthyphron " ; the nature of self-renunciation as 
exemplified in the "Crito"; and the elements of a 
true democracy. We must confine our report chiefly 
to the second of these; merely stating that the essence 
of an action was posited by Socrates in its motive, 

272 



AN HOUR WITH THE GREAT THINKERS 

and that the chief elements of a true democracy are 
equity, understanding and purpose. The address, 
having reached the part where the second question 
was to be considered, proceeded as follows: 

June 30 — Socrates 

" When my dear friend, Crito, offered me a means of escape, 
after I had been condemned by the Athenian Assembly to 
death, the verdict of the Assembly was not a unanimous one. 
I could have fallen back on sophistry and said 222 of the sen- 
ators voted for my acquittal. Of course a greater number 
voted for my condemnation. It will be of interest to you to 
know that Crito's plan of escape would have been successful. 
He had everything arranged. I was to go into Sicily, and 
there live a retired life until a change of the form of govern- 
ment in Athens came about, when I might return to the land 
that gave me birth and which I greatly loved. 

" Now, it has been said that Socrates was a pagan. It has 
been said that he did not know Jesus. In a sense, both of these 
accusations were true. I was a pagan, and I did not know 
Jesus. But if by a pagan you mean a barbarian, one not yet 
reclaimed by any system of religion similar to Christianity, I 
decidedly was not a pagan. If by the accusation that I did 
not know Jesus, you mean that I did not know the Christ 
principle, again are you dealing with the basis of the system 
of sophistry, for I knew the basis of all true life. . . . You 
think that I did not know the Christ principle which, after all, 
is but an expression of the divine ? Then the greatest mistake 
has been made. 

" I knew that principle. I was part of that principle, and 
was with the Christ beneath the pale, mellow rays of the moon 
that hardly reached through the iron bars of my stone cell, 
when he quietly, with bare feet, crept into that lonely place and 

273 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

whispered to me a plan of escape that would have been suc- 
cessful. For a moment I thought of the 222 senators who 
voted for my acquittal. I thought that I could apologize for 
myself to myself and go into Sicily and live the retired life. 

" Then again the voice of the Divine spoke to me, and I 
remembered how as a boy in Delphi, the oracle said, ' Socrates, 
go out among men, and every one you meet, question him.' 
That is the basis of the Socratic method of cross-examination 
and questioning. ' Question them, for the humblest have 
something to teach you/ I remembered when Crito's tempta- 
tion whispered itself to me, I remembered that and I was true 
to the vision of my youth. 

" Now, let me explain as to the oracle at Delphi. Did it 
speak ? Frankly, I do not know ; neither do I care, but a voice 
did speak, and in that voice there was inspiration, and it was 
divine. I followed its suggestion, and came to the goal where 
I found myself, Socrates, in the prison cell with Crito whisper- 
ing in my ear a plan of escape. 

" I was not a pagan, though I was before Jesus. I felt and 
realized the same caresses of truth and love sweeping through 
my soul. I was true to my soul. I was true to God and the 
light, the beacon light of hope and faith and immortality which 
burned brightly within my being. I said to Crito : ' No, my 
friend, much as I appreciate the nobility of your action, that 
friendship which would be as tender as a mother's good-night 
kiss when she put me to bed; much as I realize all this, I 
must be true to myself, to my age, and above all to my God. 
As I looked at the open door of my cell, through which I could 
have escaped, I saw the weeping Crito, with head bowed down, 
walk out. The tears fall in streams of silver love when I recall 
that moment. 

" Socrates died for his ideal. He could do no more. O 
Friends, he could do no less." 

274 



AN HOUR WITH THE GREAT THINKERS 

It behooves us also with such feelings as we have 
the grace to cherish, like Crito, to walk out with bowed 
heads. 



«73 



" The old world of the dispensation now ending is but a 
Sheol, a place of burning, a refuse heap outside the walls. 
I never formulated a creed; I never wrote or spoke a consti- 
tution of a church; I never even gave a name to my religion. 
I was the voice of God in the valley of earth life." 

— Jesus. 
Received July 5th, 19 18. 

" Jesus could not be God if he would not speak to the 
humblest human soul." 

— Dorothy Wordsworth. 
Received Feb. 15th, 1919. 

" I will be a silent listener in the house of the immensities of 

my God." 

— Shakespeare. 

Received March 17th, 19 19. 



276 



REALIZATION OF GOD 

In the " soft rosy twilight," after a rest in sleep of 
about four hours, the " Mother-group " of the Twen- 
tieth Plane begins its day with one hour of prayer. 
Sometimes they omit the sleep; they can do without 
it, but the prayer is their breath of life. 

They claim that they can see us when we pray. 
They explain this on the principle which causes a 
harp-string to vibrate when a string similarly tuned 
and pitched is played on in the same room. They 
teach that all relations are either harmonies or dis- 
cords. 

" Heaven is harmony ; hell discord." 

Sin is simply discord. They say that the war will end 
because of 

" The prayers and tears of mothers." 

They believe that all beautiful deeds, and noble 
achievements and purposes find fulfilment in response 
to sincere and earnest prayer. 

But prayer on the Twentieth Plane is not the selfish 
thing so much akin to beggary that many persons on 
the earth-plane conceive it to be. The strong and 
pure desire striving up to God in harmony with the 
eternal will — this is prayer. The yearning of the 
artist over his picture, of the poet over his poem, of 
the mother over her babe; the fondling of a piece of 

277 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

artistry as a mother fondles her child, realizing that in 
such love, and surrounding and transcending it with 
all energy, intensity and fervour, is the greater divine 
Love finding its way in and through purpose and de- 
sire, to ends of thrilling beauty and eternal joy, — this 
is prayer as they conceive it. They are all, brain and 
heart and hand, at the divine disposal. They think 
with their respiration and breathe with their minds and 
hearts, the thoughts and feelings of love and light; 
and all the energies of light and love work rhythmic- 
ally with their desire and purpose to accomplish their 
prayer. 

A few extracts from the dialogues will illustrate: 

March j — Dorothy {In West Toronto) 

Is life on astral planes finer than we have supposed? 

" Life here is as wonderful as the most divine dream of a 
Shakespeare." 

Do you ever get tired on the 20th plane? 

" Yes." 

Are you busy all the time? 

" Twenty hours a day, as you would say." 

How do you arrange your work ? What is your procedure ? 

" Our group pray in silence one earth hour. We then walk 
for some time in valleys, fields and woods. Then we attend 
lectures, visit the children at play. We have education, 
friends to love, etc. We have no set rules." 

At what time of the day do you take your meal? 

" When we require it." 

Does the preparation of the meal require much work? 

" No." 

278 



REALIZATION OF GOD 

Do we have guardian angels? 

" Your angels are, as Abe said, the better angels of your 
nature." 

Are they not all ministering spirits? 

" Meaning you draw to you the discarnate souls you cor- 
respond with." 

Then, I suppose, my mother would be a ministering angel 
to me. 

" We do not like that term. Be natural. She is she." 

Do not little children have guardian angels? 

" No. Some things are left to earth people." 

Is every child born on earth a reincarnation? 

" No. Some are first results of protoplasm drawn from 
some plane above the fifth." 

Are those who are reincarnated always from above the 
fifth plane? 

" Always from above the tenth." 

Can we choose the plane to which we shall go? 

" In exact accord with Drummond's Spiritual Law in the 
natural world." 

Dora, you put that better than Drummond did. 

Do people who leave earth-plane all go to lower planes of 
the astral world? 

" All go to various planes." 

January 20 — Mother 
Have you seen Waldo? (Our son in France.) 
" Yes. When he prays." 
Have you met Jesus? 
" Only through His influence." 

January 20 — Scott 
(This was the Scottish novelist and poet, but he repudiated 
the title, " Sir.") 

279 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

Who is God? 

" All our expressions of all. All are the same substance. 
I represent God in substance. So do you, but I am more in- 
tense through physical death." 

Is there a personal devil? 

" Oh, no ; you know better. Evil is misdirected energy," 

January 20 — Hubbard 
What can we do to end the war ? 

" Pray in the silence. Prayer is nearly strong enough now." 
You are more religious than formerly, are you not? 
" I was more deeply religious than I imagined." 

March 31 — Hubbard 

" Now Humans, listen to an * angel.' We will tell a few 
facts of the Twentieth Plane. 

" We do not always love, and float serenely on, like a downy 
cloud. We are made of solid substance. When discord arises 
between folk here, we know that that is the point to begin 
•education. Then we go to school and take a lesson on how 
to remove that element of discord. Simple, eh ; but friends, I 
tell you that the whole philosophy of education is contained 
in such a statement. 

"Another fact re our life. Faith has been talked about on 
your plane for centuries, but the absence of it was the most 
noticeable thing the truth of faith confronted, and as I know 
faith here, it means the normal harmonious relationship with 
the influx of the divine. Your little children. . . . All 
men and women here — for we have sex — are beings of the 
Christ principle. So be wise. Have faith or normality." 

Love and faith are still ascendant as in earth-planes 
and hope has not declined on the Twentieth Plane. A 

280 



REALIZATION OF GOD 

notable enhancement of the value of humility is found 
there. It has a sane basis like all the virtues, whether 
on the higher or lower planes. This is shown in many 
parts of our dialogues. Let us quote a surprising 
passage from a conversation in which a great Amer- 
ican was the chief spokesman. 

April 6 — Emerson 

How wonderful that you should be with us helping us to- 
night. Are you not very busy ? 

" I said I was the one honoured by this occasion. We are 
only busy at that which is the present important thing. This 
is the important thing this fair eve, my A. D." 

How long did you remain in coma when you passed over ? 

" Oh, about ten days." 

They told us that your aura was white. 

" Yes, and peculiar phenomena transpired as a consequence 
of that aura. Shall I reveal it to you ? " 

If you will. 

" Well then, it may seem incredible as the Arabian Nights, 
but Fiction in its rivalry of Fact, often finds that Fact rivals 
him. I, because of the white in aura, came on the eighth 
day to the ioooth plane, saw Jesus, Plato, Socrates, many; 
received the kiss of them all, and fell through countless clouds 
until Carlyle said : ' I welcome you, Ralph, to this plane of 
common sense.' " 

You came back for some special reason? 

" The reason in both instances was that my soul vibrated to 
the iron string of desire, the desire of both planes, but to tell 
the fact, I would sooner be here now than have remained, 
for this reason, Lincoln and Carlyle are here. Do you see 
now ? " 

281 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

Do you think that because you had written powerful essays 
on Plato, Shakespeare, Swedenborg, etc., you were led to this 
experience ? 

" Yes. Can I give you any proof of my identity that would 
be helpful?" 

You used the expression " the iron string " just now. It is 
in one of your essays. I forget which. Can you tell me 
which ? 

"Heroism, I think. Or perhaps, Self -Reliance. Yes, it 
comes back to me now: ' Trust thyself. Eveiy heart vibrates 
to that iron string/ Is that it ? Oh, I am so pleased." 

In this rather prolonged quotation two words are 
used incorrectly. Emerson would not have written, 
" We are onlv busv, etc.," nor would he say " I would 
sooner be here, etc." When we consider how spon- 
taneous and rapid are the answers, it is not remark- 
able if some expressions are somewhat coloured by 
transmission. On the other hand, the localization of 
a chance expression like " Iron string " was rather 
significant. There seems to be a disposition on the 
part of all the intelligences communicating to express 
ideas in terms of the simplest order, thus getting the 
truth over in the vesture most nearly transparent. 
There is evidence of a change of view on the part of 
Ingersoll and Hubbard, though it is not so much in 
character as in modes of thought. This is shown in 
the following quotation from the dialogues : 

February 18 — Ingersoll 
What is the real meaning of religion, Mr. Ingersoll? 

282 



REALIZATION OF GOD 

" The soul reaching up for a proper relationship with the 
divine." 

What is the divine? 

" All the Universe. God is as some one has said, ' the 
uncaused cause of all phenomena/ " 

Who said that ? 

"I think Professor Bohn. Am not sure. But Bergson 
accepts it." 

Is God from everlasting to everlasting? 

" Yes, yes, yes." 

Would it be right to say that the physical universe is the 
physical body of God? 

"All matter is a part of Him." 

Is astral substance matter? 

" Intensified matter." 

Cannot we get some explanation of the term "uncaused 
cause" ? 

" No, because it is uncaused." 

That is not a language that we use to-day. 

" I only know my own." 

That was Aristotle's idea. 

" Aristotle is now with Socrates because he knew that." 

Are your views substantially the same as before you passed 
over? 

" They are now a continuation of them." 

Any particulars in which you have changed? 

w Yes. I raved against those I should have loved. Glad- 
stone, for instance." 

The high estimation of prayer is shown in the dia- 
logues in many instances. Specimen passages are the 
following: 

283 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

February 18 — Father 

Is prayer of great value ? 

" The one great essential. But we do not mean lip-prayer." 

Do you mean praying, say, morning and evening, or is it a 
state of life? 

" A state of life." 

You do not regret that we had family prayers morning and 
evening when I was a boy ? 

" No. That was part of that state." 

What is the quality of that life atmosphere that you call 
prayer ? 

" Just normal growth of character, says Mother." 

Are desire, longing, struggle, elements? 

" Montgomery said it perfectly." 

(This was a reference to the lines beginning: "Prayer is 
the soul's sincere desire.") 

In the following colloquy with Coleridge, religion, 
philosophy, and practical wisdom are mixed: 

February 24 — Coleridge. Home of Instrument 
Is there anywhere matter that is not spiritual? 
" No, no, no ! All is of God with God essence in it." 
Is there anywhere spirit unattached to form? 
" All form is spiritual, and vice versa." 
What is the chief purpose of human life? 
" To work out necessary evolution. But oh, so obvious ! " 
You agree with Tennyson that it is worth while? 
"All is as he said of Arthur Hallam. You know. ' One 
God, one law, one universe, and one far off divine event to 
which the whole creation moves." 

(Here I was thinking of a passage in Locksley Hall. Cole- 
ridge answered with reference to a passage in In Memoriam. 
It will be noticed that he quotes incorrectly.) 

284 



REALIZATION OF GOD 

What is the best equipment for working out necessary 

evolution ? 

" Faith, prayer, love, a good wife and a home." 
• •••••• 

(Here I was called out. Others questioned.) 

When people have the experience of Cosmic consciousness 

they are surrounded by a bright light. How do you account 

for this? 

" Cosmic consciousness is simply the soul's eye being opened 

and seeing spiritual light, which is a strong, intense and vivid 

reality; hence the illumination of soul environment and 

thought." 
Very few have it. Can it be cultivated? 
" Very many have it, but not written about." 
Then is it the natural experience of a spiritual nature? 
" As natural as life of which it is an attribute." 
Does an aged person passing over look aged there? 
" As we told you, sin is a disease. If in sin on coming 

here, old as on earth, but if in spiritual development, as fresh 

as a baby of one year in perfect health." 

The influence of Swedenborg upon the thought of 
Coleridge is shadowed in the following, though I did 
not know anything of that influence at the time I 
asked the questions: 

February 24 — Coleridge. Home of Instrument 
As to Swedenborg; was he not significant? 
" Yes, a marvel. His experience transcended earth-plane 
in infinite degree." 

Are we justified in expecting some mistakes even in so 
great a man as Swedenborg ? 

" Yes, but view him as a philosophical poet ... a prose 
poet." 

285 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

I do not know that the subject of reincarnation 
should be treated under the head of religion, but per- 
haps it is as fitting there as anywhere, especially as 
certain sections of the religious world hold the doc- 
trine, and many Christian thinkers claim that it is 
distinctly implied in certain passages in the Gospels. 
Dorothy Wordsworth had told us already that all 
reincarnations take place from above the tenth plane, 
but at the same time assured us that every birth was 
not a sequence or a part of the process of reincarna- 
tion. Indeed there is evidence in the dialogues that 
there is some danger of overdoing the doctrine of 
reincarnation. And yet, there is unmistakable evi- 
dence that the Twentieth Plane people take it, in 
special cases, as an assured fact. Even metempsy- 
chosis is predicted among the lower forms of life. 

One evening we had a group of thirty. On no 
other occasion were there more than about ten in 
the company. The larger group met on March 14, 
by request of Oscar Wilde, who wished to speak by 
the lips of Louis to a larger audience. On the day 
following, Dorothy Wordsworth purported to say that 
she was present the night before and heard the ad- 
dress. She said that Oscar spoke, and nine-tenths 
of the address was really his. But the one-tenth 
which was supplied by the instrument (in an address 
on The True Value of Art), took from the effort all 
artistic value of an evidential character. This was 
not to be wondered at, for the Instrument had not 

286 



REALIZATION OF GOD 

previously spoken in trance for more than ten minutes, 
and then not to more than seven or eight persons. 
On this occasion he spoke to thirty persons for forty 
minutes, and may have been, without knowing it, 
somewhat self-conscious. 

The proceedings opened that evening with pre- 
pared questions as follows: 

March 14 — Dorothy 

" * That Power that dims the sun and lights a star ' is present 
this eve. Dora is here, A. D." 

Are we, in substance, as old as God? 

" No. We were created out of divine substance, but differ 
in our expression of the divine. We are not as old as God as 
far as the essential qualities of the personal ego are concerned. 
The incarnation is your answer. The expression of the 
Christ principle is the quintessence of necessity in the life of 
every soul. ,, 

Later in the evening Lincoln introduced Keats to 
our assemblage: 

March 14 — Keats 
Is Shakespeare with you? 
" Yes." 

Did he or Bacon write the great dramas? 
" Will." 

Who are in your group ? 

" Will, Socrates, Plato, Bacon, Heine, Beethoven, Wagner, 
Chopin." 
Which of the Heines? 
" The Jewish poet." 
Is Jesus still developing? 

287 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

" Yes ; in creative evolution." 

Do you regard the "0 de to a Grecian Urn " as your artistic 
high water mark? 

" No. My highest art is ' The Eve of Saint Agnes* " 

Do you know the poems of Norwood? 

" Yes. His ' Keats ' is a marvel. He caught my veiy 
spirit." 

Which is his greatest work ? 

" His ' Witch of Endor.' The line in which grapes occur 
is marvellous music." 

Is that in the Witch? 

" Yes." 

Do you know which act it is in? 

" About the middle of the play. We cannot vibrate idea 
now." 

(The line referred to is found on page 84 in the " Witch of 
Endor": 

" The glimmer of the moonlight on the grapes." 

When say Plato, Csesar or Dante have been thought to 
speak to persons on our plane in the past, is it an impersona- 
tion or is it authentic? 

" Impersonation, with, perhaps, an echo of them." 

Have there been communications directly from your plane 
before this? 

" No ; this is the first. Conditions are now almost miracu- 
lous." 

Do the astral planes revolve with the earth ? 

" Only the lower planes do." 

The first five or ten? 

" First five." (See page 217.) 

Are the planes really numbered, or are the numbers used 
only as symbols? 

" As symbols." 

288 



REALIZATION OF GOD 

Do you approve of vers libre ? 
" No." 

What is your reason ? 

" Melody clothes itself in garments of rhyme, rhythm, 
colour. It is Nature's law. The birds sing in rhythm." 

On May 20th Henry Ward Beecher spoke through 
the Instrument in trance. There being no stenog- 
rapher present, I am compelled to give the merest 
outline of his discourse: 

" Sacred friends of mine : Again after the lapse of years, my 
voice is heard on the earth plane. I always considered, as the 
minister of a flock, that my highest duty was to teach. So 
to-night I shall endeavour to teach a lesson you can grasp. 

" Living here on this plane, we are bathed in beauty. The 
divine sings to us in voice and expression as the gale sings 
over the hills and oceans of your plane. 

" I, speaking through this humble instrument, am as humble 
as he. 

" The church on your plane stands condemned in the eyes 
of the Twentieth Plane, which sought to build itself with re- 
ligion as its basis. And yet I would be a reformer from 
within. 

" Your ministers are the most unpractical and the least im- 
pressionable of all men. Instead of giving their own experi- 
ence, they repeat phonographic records of old sermons. 

" The absence of originality is a virus in the church." 

After commending by name a well-known minister 
as an example of spiritual power and originality, 
Beecher proceeded: 

289 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

" Study analytically, for example, the lessons taught your 
children in Sunday School. 

" Consider the money spent in building palatial churches 
and the impoverishment of those who pay it. 

" Think of the poor in their unsanitary surroundings. Show 
gentle souls in the church the picture of the half -starved 
around them while they are in luxury. 

" Tell the mothers they are the schools to which their chil- 
dren go. 

" Put the palm of your right hand on the brow of the little 
child. We do this on this plane. Some of our strength be- 
comes theirs. 

" In the coming reconstruction, the people will become the 
owners of their own rights. 

" When this hell on the earth plane is over, from the great 
megaphone of time, great voices will call asking, Has the 
church not been a failure? 

" The absence of true religion in the church brought on 
this fearful war. 

" In the state, too often, pigmies, men as low as swine are 
dealing in red tape and graft. Thus in my own day Johnson, 
the brute who refused to pardon Mrs. Suratt, was too in- 
toxicated to know what the daughter was saying when she 
was pleading on her knees for the life of her innocent mother. 
This was the sort of men who were in charge of the recon- 
struction in that day." 

Without consenting to any sweeping denunciations, 
I still feel that there is much to be learned from 
Beecher's message. In humble faith and prayer 
reaching out to find its child relation to the All 
Father; in the selfless life of wisdom, love and service, 
these people of the Twentieth Plane follow Him 

290 



REALIZATION OF GOD 

whom they call the Master of Masters. The Twen- 
tieth Plane is the home of great thinkers and lovers 
who are not interested in the old garments of religion, 
but in truth and life which are its very fibre. 

This record, however interesting or helpful it may 
be up to this point, would be incomplete were I to 
conclude with these reports only. If at this juncture 
I explain the further reports, I trust it will be re- 
garded more as a confession than an apology. Be- 
cause of the peculiar reverence based on the unique 
nature and character of the Founder of Christianity, 
when messages were received which, we were told, 
were sent directly from Jesus, I, at the first deter- 
mined not to publish His words, feeling that it would 
be regarded as not being in good taste nor even 
reverent to do so. 

A consideration that influenced me still more was 
the fear that their publication might be an obstacle to 
the faith of some reader, and thus that they might do 
more harm than good. I feel ashamed of that de- 
termination now, not only for the reason which is 
suggested by the foregoing statements, but also be- 
cause the honest reporter must report such matters, 
or stand condemned as unfaithful to his evangel or 
whatever it may prove to be. No other passage is 
omitted for such a reason. No matters have been ex- 
cluded excepting some which were personal and others 
which have been received since the chapters to which 
they were appropriate were concluded. 

291 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

When the fourth message was received, and 
Mother had appealed to me as the record shows on 
page 297 at its close, I said to her: 

June p — Mother 

I am doubtful, Mother, as to the wisdom of publishing the 
words of the Master lest it should prevent some from be- 
lieving who otherwise might accept the authenticity of these 
communications. What would you advise? 

" They will tell you, after thought, next night. Samuel 
will give you now dedication for the book. Shall he ? " 

Coleridge then dictated, through the Instrument, 
the Dedication found at the beginning of this volume, 
which, therefore, we need not reproduce here. When 
he proposed a dedication of the book to the heroes of 
the war, I was delighted, and said it would be neces- 
sary to write a paragraph for that purpose. He very 
kindly offered to do it for me and the result is before 
the reader. He spent a little time in the preparation 
of the paragraph, reporting it on the following even- 
ing. 

The answer to my question was presented on 

June 14 — Coleridge 
" The cosmic music in Jesus' words will sing away sin and 
doubt. There is in the divine simplicity of His uttered words 
that which is manna to all thirsty souls. By all means use, on 
the combined request of all of us, such data." 

Dorothy 
" Listen, Dear ! You stand for Jesus, and never break the 

292 



REALIZATION OF GOD 

beauty of His spoken words with a screen or hidden veil, even 
though the universe pulverize to nothing at the daring of 
your action. Only then are you yourself. We know. The 
contemplation of deep love passion lifts the soul to God. That 
will go in the book, Dear." 

After such an appeal, I am not careful about criti- 
cism. Let those only who stand between Jesus and 
His words of life to the people beware. Just as the 
clear thinker will distinguish between real religion 
and its institutions, churches, creeds and sacraments, 
so will he separate as far as the east is from the 
west those who are merely careful for their thought 
about Jesus from those who love Him and obey 
His word. 

After that part of the dialogue referred to on page 
139 where Shelley closes with the words, " In the 
name of God, let us be thankful," he paused and 

began again: 

May 12 — Shelley 

" I am, as the wage for such supreme faith to give to you a 
message sent through this plane this moment from Jesus : 

" Men of the same Father, hear the voice of Him who died 
that the spirit might be free as the air. Your love is like the 
love of Mary, John and Paul. As the lily is more gorgeous 
than Solomon's temple, ye enter into the spiritual gift of life. 
I come close to those I love. Now I go, but my teaching 
remains. ,, 

(A few silent moments.) 

Shelley 
" You are overcome by His message. So were we all. This 

293 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

is an epoch-making night to all of us. Let us be in the cradle 
where we deserve such benedictions of worthy things, as does 
a mother's babe deserve her love." 



It would be difficult to describe the awe and 
exultation that pervaded our circle. One who was 
present for the first time said " It was worth living a 
lifetime to have been present." The air seemed to 
be charged with pulsations of power, a throbbing 
light, a love unspeakable. Words are impotent. I 
have told all that can be told. Experience alone can 
understand. If the reader wants to know more, he 
cannot till he listens with love in his heart and obedi- 
ence in his life to every word the Christ would say to 
him. It is useless to seek further light from outside. 
Look within. 

There were only six persons present on that 
memorable evening. These went forth with joy- 
wildered hearts, glad that they had lived in such an 
overwhelming experience. 

Many experiences recorded here are too mystical to 
be accepted by those accustomed to a more material 
view of life. With those who are honest in their 
insistence on the doctrine of immortality, a personal 
relation with the great Founder of the Christian re- 
ligion, and a real communion with Him, the Twen- 
tieth Plane is in close accord. Many, however, who 
loudly insist on the doctrine of immortality are most 
violently opposed to any least evidence of an actual 

294 



REALIZATION OF GOD 

or definite nature which can be adduced in support 
of that doctrine. Only when found in a library 
nineteen hundred years old, and accredited by some 
member of a race whom they now despise, do they 
deign to give it the least consideration. 

Surely, any word that would illuminate the unseen 
land to which we are all tending should be eagerly 
investigated with a serene hopefulness that it may 
prove a joy, a light, and a strong assurance of 
ultimate well-being. Tennyson said: 

" We have but faith ; we cannot know, 
For knowledge is of things we see." 

Well, here is a statement purporting to come from 
those who have seen, and Tennyson is one of those 
who, having seen, reports his unalterable conclusion. 
Two weeks after we had received the message from 
Jesus, another came, and we have had several, — five 
in all, one of which was not recorded. I shall merely 
record those of which we are in verbal possession: 

May 26 — Jesus 

" Brothers, lovers, all : — If I were permitted to add a line to 
the Sermon on the Mount, I should add this : Be calm. That 
is the lesson of the planes to all the ages. 

" The birds are serene. The ocean subsides to solemn still- 
ness as it adores its Maker. The winds cry not. Night 
comes on all planes, and soothes the soul to rest. The stars 
are noiseless. The greatest force of all space is often not 
heard even by ears attuned to hear the language of flowers. 

295 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

" But the souls of earth plane mortals rattle to destruction. 
Your souls alone clatter over the rocks of unfinished char- 
acter. Alone do those of earth plane spill blood while monster 
machines tear the air with their roar to an endless chaos. 

" Be calm in prayer, in thought, in purpose, in character, 
and your calmness w T ill be the ship of life that shall reach all 
ports of experience, and then throw out the anchor; safe home 
at last." 

June 2 

" My children, when two or three are gathered in the tent 
of faith, I enter to minister to them. This has been a time 
when your voices of faith reached with mine in song and 
prayer to the greater Mind of all, our Father. 

" I was a human too, and am, as you will be, clothed in 
robes of white, cleansed to enter the temple where one hears 
God's voice say, ' Welcome to this tabernacle, O my children.' 

" I go now, but my spirit loves your spirits. Our influences 
merge. We will be together always. Good-bye." 

June o 

" My brothers, I come again as the elder Brother, one living 
in a home all may enter. The true worship of our Father is to 
be pure, sincere and loving. There is no complexity in the 
teaching of God's school. Truth was born to help the lowly 
by the pure and simple nature of its love. 

" The highest expressions of life I saw on earth were my 
mother's grief, the other Mary's sorrow at my death, and the 
loyalty of the fishermen, simple souls and disciples who fol- 
lowed me even to the end. Thus the greatest was the lowliest. 

" Go to the Father, not on bended knee, but straight up, in 
all the majesty of the wonderful body God gave thee. He will 
rejoice, for He loves the natural, the brave, the true. Sup- 
plication in strength of physical body is sweeter to Him than 

296 



REALIZATION OF GOD 

reaching Him through lowly attitudes of bodily pain, self- 
inflicted. 

" My own brothers, sisters, I am but an elder one whose 
highest purpose is to extend the Christ hand to make you your 
true selves, thus coming to our Father as He desires His 
children to come. 

" I bend before you to sprinkle the water of my love on 
your brows. Good-bye." 

June p — Mother 

" O Albert, My Boy, was not that wonderful ! Speak to 
me. I must hear your voice." 

The whole evening was wonderful, Mother. 

" When Jesus is here, I am to you very near ; but O Albert, 
do for me use all your faith to see that this revelation is made 
of great use." 

Here, for the present, the revelation closes. It is 
unusual, startling, astounding; nevertheless, it is 
printed with the hope that it may be found to co-relate 
and explain many if not all of the wonderful psychical 
experiences reported in recent months, which demand, 
for their co-relation, just such a revealment. 



297 



COMMENTS 

It was not my intention to make any statement of 
my own convictions as to the authenticity of the 
communications reported in this volume. When the 
work was nearing completion, Coleridge convinced 
me that the record would be psychologically incom- 
plete without such a statement, and that its absence 
would be misinterpreted. Absolute intellectual cer- 
titude in the form of a commonly accepted verdict 
seems impossible to establish in the very nature of 
the case. I have met with no theory of explanation 
from which I cannot, by some other, make some sort 
of escape. Nevertheless, I do not wish the reader to 
lay this volume down with the feeling or the thought 
that "It is all a guess; the investigators themselves 
are all at sea. They do not accept the authenticity of 
these communications, then how can I?" Such a 
conclusion would be incorrect. 

I am aware that our convictions are no part of the 
communications, and have far less evidential value; 
and yet, the effect of the experience upon us, who 
were undoubtedly the most intimately concerned, will, 
I trust, be helpful to the reader, giving him as clear 
a notion as possible of' the total experience. I have 
reported the dialogues accurately; I shall try to tell 
as faithfully how these communications have influ- 
enced the minds of our circle. 

The most fatal enemies of all newly acquired 

298 



COMMENTS 

knowledge are those who, regarding themselves as its 
friends, formulate a new generalization from insuffi- 
cient data, state it as a creed or a law, and straight- 
way regard all who do not accept it as enemies of 
progress. These j)seudo-scientists are stout defend- 
ers of their theories. To them " the law " is all- 
important; the facts are treated lightly. One may 
at any time find them measuring and modifying their 
facts, ignoring those that do not fit their theory, im- 
agining or supplying others that do, and abating or 
enhancing the data in their eagerness to prove their 
theories true. They leap at once to conviction. The 
frailest possible chain of evidence is sufficient to prove 
what they are already convinced is true, and straight- 
way, their problem is solved. 

The science of Psychology is still in its infancy. 
We are only beginning to evolve a true theory of 
man. The study of hypnotism, telepathy, trance, 
etc., has unquestionably added light, and since it is 
the peculiar, the unusual, the thing not understood, 
that needs investigating, I make no apologies for the 
publication of this volume. To add one parchment, 
brick or cylinder to the data of personality is a task in 
which one might earnestly pray to be made an instru- 
ment, were it only a spade or a pick. The field is as 
old as the race. Egypt and Accad are modern in 
comparison. 

Some will suspect that this is the output of another 
Hofrath Heuschrecke, with his zodiacal paper-bags, 

299 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

and an attempt to foist them on a credulous public. 
Some will attribute all to a fertile imagination, with a 
certain insidious method of exploitation. Still others 
will suggest that the answers in these dialogues have 
been dictated by certain lofty intelligences who have 
led us erroneously to suppose that they are the literary 
personalities whom they claim to be. 

Others will believe us the dupes of a subtle psycho- 
logical sensitiveness, a hyper-idealism which dipped 
freely into the sea of subconscious or subliminal 
knowledge, and caught in its net many facts unknown 
to us and therefore quite surprising. In other words, 
they suspect the things we didn't know we knew were 
seized uj)on by faculties we didn't know we had and 
presented in a style we didn't know was ours, because 
it was foreign to our usage. 

Some will attribute all to the Instrument. Others 
will regard me as the " vast unfathomable mind " out 
of which all the truth in these dialogues was called up. 
Others will attribute all to the entire circle, and still 
others will derive it from the whole ocean of human 
intelligence. I have no desire to enter into any ex- 
haustive discussion of theories, but I am the best 
judge regarding one of these hypotheses. I am not 
the source of these communications. Many of the 
answers received are not the answers I should have 
given, nor are they the answers I should now give. 
This is true, not only of their style, but also, of their 
subject matter. In no other volume, regardless of its 

300 



COMMENTS 

authorship, have I ever received or met with so many 
unexpected statements. 

All the other members of the circle desire to record 
a similar disclaimer on their own behalf. This 
affirmation is not made in support of any other 
hypothesis. There is no member of our inner circle 
who would wish to encourage spirit communication 
excepting under the most exceptional conditions. 
The reader is free in relation to all theories in the 
light of the facts. 

I have not enquired as to the effect produced upon 
the minds of those who attended only two or three 
meetings of the circle, and yet, practically all — I 
think all — who were present at even one-tenth of 
them, and these were at least ten persons, agree sub- 
stantially with myself as to their convictions. 

All the members of my own family resident in our 
home at any time during these meetings are fully 
convinced that, allowing for a slight fractional inevi- 
table admixture of the thought of the Instrument, 
these communications are authentic. At least five 
others, including the Instrument and his wife, are 
quite as thoroughly satisfied that those who purported 
to project their thought to us, did so. One of this 
number said to me at the second meeting: 

" I only began to live last Sunday night." 

Another member of the circle, a person of literary 
taste and achievement, wrote me recently as follows: 

301 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

"If you were to repudiate the whole enterprise yourself, 
it would not move me one iota. Even if I wanted to disbelieve, 
I could not. ... I have to believe in the most absolute 
and literal way." 

Another member of the circle known in this volume 
as the Scholar-girl, the quality of whose mind is dem- 
onstrated in the following quotation from her pen, 
wrote me thus: 

" These unseen friends have tested me, sifted me, shaken 
the dust out of me. My mind is one that must touch concrete 
things. The world, thoughts, emotions, even dreams are to me 
vivid realities clothed in concrete forms. Now a new light is 
coming to me. Great principles are displacing things in my 
mind. I feel the naked idea, the thought disrobed of its 
concrete form. Such is the glory-change the psychic revela- 
tions have brought into my life." 

It is safe to predict that, in future, no one of us will 
ever do a doubtful thing without feeling that the eyes 
of the Twentieth Plane are looking wistfully on. We 
shall feel that their great hearts are pained by any 
evidence of a glory departed from our characters. 

If, notwithstanding what I have said here, some 
one is ready to assert that without any consciousness, 
on the part of myself or other members of the 
circle, of originating these answers, our subconscious 
thoughts have, nevertheless, been the source out of 
which the Instrument drew or absorbed the answers 
given, it needs only to be said that such a possibility 
is of itself a discovery of human powers which may 

302 



COMMENTS 

well be compared in interest and value with any dis- 
covery that could be made in regard to the existence 
and mode of life of intelligences on other planes of 
existence. And further, the conviction of the possi- 
bility of absorbing thoughts from the subconscious- 
ness of another might very well predispose one to 
accept the view that intelligences on other planes, 
granting that these exist, could function through the 
Instrument in a similar way. 

From erroneous prognostications and other evi- 
dences, we have learned that the communicating in- 
telligences are not infallible, omniscient, or perfect 
in any complete sense. They do not unfailingly know 
the future, the past, nor even the present; and they 
say so. They do not know all that we know, yet they 
have means of knowing some things we cannot know. 
They have a far clearer vision of reality. They are 
therefore in a position to instruct us in these things, 
to inspire us, and this they say they do. But remem- 
ber, I am now speaking of the Twentieth Plane. 
Most of the communications which are usually de- 
scribed as being frivolous, and rightly so charged, are 
from planes below the eighth, and never from those 
above the tenth. 

Triviality is not an evidence against authenticity. 
It is merely a part of those evil communications that 
corrupt. One must decline to accept it. Refuse to 
hear it. I have as good a right to choose my company 
on the astral planes as on the earth plane. That none 

303 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

may be led by the reports included in this volume to 
use the Board under conditions which could lead only 
to disappointment, waste of time, dissipation of en- 
ergy, and confusion of mind, I will say that none 
should expect results of a high order who does not 
bring to the investigation a high degree of sincerity, 
faith, — I do not mean credulity, — and purity of mind 
and purpose. Curiosity will not pass as coin here. 
Frequently, in our experience, we were halted and 
told that the communications could not proceed be- 
cause of the state of mind and thought of some one 
present. I do not possess a Board myself. I never 
did. I never expect to. I do not advise any one else 
to procure one. I never did. I never expect to. I 
am not a spiritist. I simply declare it as my con- 
viction that when the All-Father would give to us 
great consolation, or inspiration to great service, or 
would meet any purpose of His Love, He can and 
does send His messengers of light to us for the ac- 
complishment of His purpose. It will be realized, 
then, that I regard this as being such an occasion. 

The war has erased the old judgment lines of 
civilization. A new era is in its inception even now. 
We hear the dying thunders of the guns that 
boomed around the world, but theirs was only the 
first shock of the impact of the new era. The great 
conflict has only begun. Those spiritual forces that 
won the war will not demobilize till the mightier 
conflict for freedom has cleansed the Augean cham- 

304 



COMMENTS 

bers of life. While the echoes of the war-god's chariot 
are dying in the distance, I hear the death-gasp of 
the old dispensation, the last convulsive choking in 
the throat of selfish conspiracies, secret diplomacies 
and treacherous compacts. 

I hear the footfall of an approaching triumphant 
democracy, a comprehensive international world con- 
federacy, a pact of nations pledged to hold each other 
and all others unharmed against autocracy, tyranny 
and oppression. The pomp of dynasties, the arro- 
gance of proud demagogues, and the insolence of 
delegated powers subsides and melts to the greatness 
of simplicity in the joy of service to the common- 
wealth. 

With the great struggle for political freedom will 
come the still greater demand for unchallenged free- 
dom of thought in every field within the range of 
mind. In the coming storm, the church will have to 
widen its vision to comprehend the whole vista of life, 
or humanity will be held back a century. When and 
where did our divine Master ever say that there was 
nothing more in heaven or earth to be revealed? Is 
not every great life challenged by a new and mightier 
inspiration to live so as to give a new revelation to a 
listening age? 

I see the spectres of old idolatries, traditions and 
creeds hastening down the darkness in confusion and 
dismay, while a new sweetness and a fuller light melts 
the morning star of a new age into the glory-light of 

305 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

justice, love and peace. I see the church rising to an 
inspiration higher than all its institutions, creeds, and 
shibboleths, and responding to the visioned concept of 
the unity of life. 

This revelation from the Twentieth Plane will meet 
with opposition from the custodians of the past, the 
high priests of autocracy in church and state, but, as 
Emerson said to me on May 5th: 

"If the Twentieth Plane book is published, I want it to 
brave the storms of criticism as the dreadnought traverses the 
ocean of your plane, fearless, dauntless, strong. It will be 
the beacon-light along the coast of time to many a soul, so in 
the philosophy of self-reliance, let that book rely on its in- 
trinsic merit for the fame that will come as a just gift to truth." 

If I have rightly interpreted the teaching of the 
Twentieth Plane, the old foundations of life remain, 
but need new interpretation. The law of love- 
sacrifice stays, but demands expression of power in 
every life. The doctrine of the last judgment reverts 
to the teaching of Jesus : 

" I judge no man. The words that I speak unto you, these 
shall judge you." 

The doctrine of hell is simply a statement of the neces- 
sity of a new birth in some valley of humiliation where 
the soul is compelled of its own choice to face its past 
and be restored by repentance and faith to a realiza- 
tion of its true child-relation of harmony with the 
Divine Will. 

306 



COMMENTS 

Is not the really great project of life involved in its 
prospect of forever going on? Is not the present 
crisis, in the light of all similar crises, one persistent 
imperative, demanding that organized Christianity 
shall justify itself in the light of the Sermon on the 
Mount? Is not Love itself a whispering hope? Is 
it not just a part of that ever sweeping wind of a 
greater revelation which always reveals because there 
will always be more to reveal? 

I see the church forsake its shibboleths and rise to 
the insistent demand for a visioned faith in the unity 
of life. I find its members realizing that those who 
have entered the unseen life are still in the circle of 
our love and inspiration, one church, undivided by the 
sun-crowned hills of death. I see the divine Christ 
leading the people in every land, leading in the per- 
sons of all who will teach the sovereignty of character 
as shown in obedience to the purpose and will of God. 

I see a divine democracy in which all, as they go 
about their common duties, are sages and poets, in that 
they hear the voices of nature and know that these 
are the voices of God, they hear the music of the 
spheres and realize that this is the harmony of the 
heavens. 

Do not suppose that this is merely a poet's dream. 
In the name of the great ones of the ages, from 
Socrates to Erasmus and from Erasmus to Lincoln, 
I say that all political and sacerdotal futilities must 
be swept out of church and state to give place to the 

307 



THE TWENTIETH PLANE 

sacrament of love in the common life. Then the 
hungry heart of humanity, fed no longer on the stones 
of tradition, but on the bread of life, shall recognize 
Love and the Universe as one, and the physical laws 
of Nature as expressions of Love's universal Life. 



308 



INDEX 



Abbott, A. H., 48, 79, 133, 239, 

251. 
Abbott, Mrs., 49. 
Adonais, 135. 
Affinity, 223. 
Agassiz, Louis, 37, 217. 
Alcseus, 140. 
Alfoxden, 137. 
Angelo, Michel, 174. 
Angels, 146. 

Animals, 49, 79, 225, 226. 
Aristotle, 255, 265, 271, 283. 
Arnold, Edwin, 72, 114. 
Arnold, Matthew, 114. 
Art, 151, 190, 222; Portraits, 151- 

152, 160. 
Aspasia, 231, 271. 
Astral birth, 42, 160. 

" body, 41, 48, 79. 

" instruments, 47, 65, 121 
228, 229. 

" visits, 78, 151, 152, 227, 
266. 
Astronomy, 39, 50, 261, 287, 295. 
Athens, 221, 264, 268. 
Aura, 46 to 49, 78, 79, 109, 114, 
125, 143, 233, 281. Colour of, 
47-48. 
Aura doctors, 47. 
Aura history, 222. 
Aura instruments, 47, 222. 
Automatic writing, 304. 

B 

Bacon, Francis, 97, 287. 
Bahai, Abdul, 60, 208. 
Balzac, Honore de, 108. 
Barrett, Edward, 121. 
Bayreuth, 168. 
Beaconsfield. See Disraeli. 
Beatrice, 231. 



Becket, Thomas a., 146. 

Beecher, Henry Ward, 178, 289. 

Beethoven, 287. 

Benjamin, Master Henry, 43, 46, 
79, 304. 

Bergson, Henri, 219, 240, 243, 
283. 

Birth, 219, 222. 

Bismarck, 106. 

Boehme, 245, 246. 

Bohn, Prof., 283. 

Books, 41. 

Booth, Edwin, 224; Junius, 224. 

Brahmins, 38, 72, 114. 

Browning, Mrs., 121, 173; Rob- 
ert, 59. 

Bucke, Maurice, 237. 

Burke, Edmund, 65-66, 176. 

Byron, 42, 78, 115. 



Caesar, Julius, 288. 

Carlyle, 59, 78, 108, 117, 199,240, 

281. 
Carmen, Bliss, 145. 
Cavell, Edith, 178. 
Cellini, Benvenuto, 150, 170, 173, 

175. 
Charge of Light Brigade, 147. 
Chase, 209. 

Chemicals. See Food. 
Children, 39, 222, 224, 266, 268, 

279, 290. 
Chopin, 287. 
Christianity, 273. 
Cicero, 231. 
Clairvoyance, 45. 
Claire, Samuel, 101. 
Cleopatra, 227. 
Clothing, 40, 52. 
Coleridge, Derwent, 46. 
Coleridge, Hartley, 65, 95, 122, 



309 



INDEX 



162, 217, 221, 227, 228, 241, 
243 

Coleridge, Samuel T., 20, 39, 42, 
46, 49, 50, 62, 80, 82, 115, 
116, 119-122, 126, 138, 168, 
173, 214, 218, 219, 222, 230- 
234, 238, 239, 241-245, 247, 
251, 284, 285, 292, 298. 

Comte, 271. 

Communications, Mode of, 230. 

Corday, 230-232. 

Cosima Wagner, 168, 169. 

Corneille, 108. 

Crawford, Isabelle Valancy, 51. 

Cross, Mr., 71. 

Crown Prince, 94. 



Dante, 57, 231, 288. 
Death, 43, 44, 219, 267. 
Descartes, 242. 
Disraeli, 188, 205, 225. 
Drake, 86, 98. 
Dreams, 78. 

Drummond, Henry, 279. 
Dumas, 108. 



Edison, 40. 

Eddy, Mrs., 68. 

Ehrlich, 45, 93. 

Eligab, 160, 161. 

Eliot, George, 70. 

Emerson, 48, 59, 60, 78, 100, 117- 

118, 199, 205, 209, 220, 226, 

281. 
Erasmus, 307. 
Erinna, 140, 142. 
Euthyphron, 272. 



Foch, 94, 200. 

Food, 38, 52, 127, 204-207, 232, 

233, 278. 
Fox, George, 245, 
Fox, 65. 

France, 104, 108, 231. 
Francis, Sir Philip, 64. 
Frederick the Great, 113, 147. 



French Revolution, 108, 132. 
Friedmann, 93. 



Gerard, 207. 

Germany, 147. 

Gladstone, 48, 146, 283. 

Grant, 94. 

Greeley, Horace, 208. 

Greece, 222. 

Gibbon, 70. 

Gilfillan, George, 64. 

God, 187-188, 212, 234, 240-242, 

244, 247-252, 270, 271, 280, 

283-287. 
Goethe, 117, 147, 180. 
Gorgon, 269. 
Green, 70. 
Griggs, E. H., 99. 

H 

Hallam, Arthur, 121, 125-126, 

146, 284. 
Hamlet, 98, 100. 
Harvard, 209. 
Hanks, 231. 
Hata, 93. 

Hathaway, Ann, 98, 99. 
Hearn, Lafcadio, 120. 
Heine, 147, 287. 
Hellas, 133. 
Henley, 121. 
Herder, 147. 
Heraclitus, 272. 
Hindenburg, 94, 133. 
Hogg, 42, 58, 217. 
Homer, 139, 265. 
Hubbard, 41-45, 49, 51, 57, 87-94, 

103, 112, 123, 133, 198, 200, 

202, 206, 215, 216, 218, 225, 

280, 282. 
Hugo, Victor, 63, 104-108. 



Immortality, 42, 215, 226. 
India, 72. 

Ingersoll, 48, 78, 80, 128, 176, 

178, 192, 199, 214, 219, 282. 

Instrument, The (Eouis Benja- 



3IO 



INDEX 



min), 72, 120, 229, 239, 255, 

260, 286, 300. 
Irish Question, 65, 66, 205. 
Irving, Sir Henry, 146, 191. 
Isocrates, 264. 



James, Henry, 120. 

Jesus, 79, 236, 273, 276, 287, 291, 

292, 306. 
Johnson, Andrew, 290. 
Jonson, Ben, 120. 
Junius Letters, 64, 65. 

K 

Kaiser, 90, 94. 
Kant, 235, 239, 245, 249. 
Karter Singh, (Akali), 72. 
Keats, 57, 59, 115, 135, 216, 217, 

287. 
Kelvin, Lord, 256. 
Kitchener, 88, 89, 94, 146, 147. 
Koch, 93. 



Language, 50, 55-58, 60, 68, 71, 

284. 
League of Nations, 89, 208. 
Le Sage, 108. 
Liebnitz, 231. 
Lincoln, Abraham, 43, 88, 94, 98, 

178, 198, 199, 203-209, 219- 

223, 281, 307. 
Lizst, 169. 
Lloyd George, 205. 

M 
Maeterlinck, 120. 
Malory, Sir Thomas, 145. 
Marat, 232. 
Maria Theresa, 113. 
Marie Antoinette, 231. 
Marriage, 222. 
Medici, The, 224. 
Memory, 227, 265. 
Mendelssohn, 169. 
Metchnikoff, 93. 

Method of communication, 228- 
229. 



Moliere, 108. 

Moore, 109. 

Morris, Wm., 108, 165, 175. 

Moses, 200, 223. 

Mozart, 170. 

N 
Napoleon, Louis, 200. 
Nelson, 200. 
New Salem, 207. 
Norwood, Robert, 288. 

O 
Ophelia, 98, 100. 
Oracle at Delphi, 269, 274. 



Parnell, 66. 

Pater, Walter, 62, 63, 120, 180. 

Paul, 293. 

Pepys Diary, 114. 

Peter, 223. 

Pitt, 65. 

Plato, 60, 237, 254, 255, 259, 260, 

264, 265, 272, 281. 
Poe, Edgar Allan, 120, 122, 126, 

138, 140, 178, 179, 180. 
Prayer, 72, 83, 90, 115, 216, 277, 

279, 283, 284, 296. 
Pythagoras, 255, 259. 



Racine, 108. 

Reincarnation, 188, 209, 222, 225, 

228, 279, 285, 286. 
Religion, 186, 199, 215, 276, 282, 

290. 

S 
Sappho, 66, 118, 139-142, 145, 

187. 
Schiller, 147. 
Scott, Walter, 279. 
Sermon on the Mount, 295. 
Sexton, Dr. George, 59. 
Sex, 222, 281. 
Shakespeare, 57, 86, 97-100, 142, 

144, 178, 184, 187, 192, 255, 

282. 287. 



311 



INDEX 



Shelley, 40, 42, 47, 51, 57, 67, 77, 
79, 86, 97, 115, 128, 129-131, 
133, 135, 139-144, 171, 178, 
181, 217, 220, 230, 293. 

Socrates, 60, 221, 254, 255, 259, 
264, 266, 269, 270, 273, 274, 
281, 283, 288. 

Southey, 109, 120. 

Spinoza, 178, 186, 235, 247, 251, 
252, 257, 260. 

Stowe, H. B., 231. 



Taine, 105, 111. 

Tennyson, 54, 59, 122, 125, 145, 

147, 284, 295. 
Thompson, Francis, 120. 
Tintoretto, 151, 154. 



W 

Wagner, 147, 155, 168, 169, 175, 
287. 

Wallace, A. R., 229. 

Washington, Booker T., 207. 

Whitman, 46, 96. 

Wilde, Oscar, 286. 

Wilhelm, Meister, 117. 

Wilson, Pres., 198, 209. 

Witch of Endor, 288. 

Wordsworth, Dorothy, 17, 38, 
42, 44, 46, 49, 50, 58, 60, 64, 
67, 80-83, 101, 111, 117-119, 
133, 135, 136, 154, 160, 163, 

167, 171, 215, 217, 223, 225, 
238, 278, 287, 292. 

Wordsworth, Wm, 69, 115, 123, 
137, 138, 144, 146, 151-160, 

168, 178, 220. 



Vinci Leonardo da, 175. 
Voltaire, 103, 104, 105, 111-113. 



Zadig, 105, 112. 



3 X 2 



mm 

Gbs&bb BHHS 
H 



HUB 



H HSIli 
m HBB 

m mm 
m 

ma ^H 

BBfimSmBB 889 
HS SB HBB&8 

■ 888x8 Bra ran 

H H 

nRdafiSbaaaflUH BBfQfl 



aoaaaflffiS 



la 

HBfl 



£S£ 



sszs 



BESSS ESSi fiSSofl SS&SoS 

rem Hmnffls 

HnngooooBfiffi BBnoB 

mwrnrnm. 



BB 



BSBBSn 



sriBSBBs 




hhuhu S29&& www bh e 



PC 

HBI K 




m 






